King Faisal Air Base | |||||||
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مجموعة الملك فيصل بن عبد العزيز الجوية | |||||||
Near Al-Jafr, Ma'an Governorate in Jordan | |||||||
![]() A U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules takes off from King Faisal Air Base during Exercise Eager Lion, June 2013 | |||||||
Coordinates | 30°20.589′N 036°08.856′E / 30.343150°N 36.147600°E | ||||||
Type | Air Base | ||||||
Site information | |||||||
Operator | Royal Jordanian Air Force | ||||||
Website | King Faisal Air Base | ||||||
Site history | |||||||
Built | 1974–1981 | ||||||
In use | 1981 | –present||||||
Airfield information | |||||||
Identifiers | ICAO: OJKF | ||||||
Elevation | 873 metres (2,864 ft) AMSL | ||||||
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Sources: AIP Jordan,[1] TPC H-5B[2] |
King Faisal Air Base (ICAO: OJKF; Arabic: مجموعة الملك فيصل بن عبد العزيز الجوية) is a Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) installation near the town of Al-Jafr, Ma'an Governorate.
The installation is named for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who financed the base's construction.[3]
Construction for the base began in 1974, with the first aircraft landing on 27 November 1980. The base was officially opened by King Hussein of Jordan on 24 June 1981.[3]
A 1983 report indicated that the base was used to assemble parts of Chinese Shenyang J-6 fighter aircraft for subsequent delivery to Iraq.[4]
In 1987, Syrian president Hafez Assad and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein flew to the base to have a meeting in the nearby town Al-Jafr amidst the Iran–Iraq War.[5]
In October 1996, the airfield was used by an Antonov An-124 to fly in the ThrustSSC jet car for testing in the desert near Al-Jafr.[6]
On 4 November 2016, a Jordanian guard shot and killed three American soldiers and wounded another while they were returning to the base.[7]
The base frequently hosts military exercises,[3][8] a practice going back as far as the 1980s. Among the exercises that have been hosted at the base are Exercise Bright Star and Exercise Eager Lion.[9][10][11]