Israel Air Force Re’em planes (Boeing 707s) have broken the record for the longest flight in the Israel Defense Forces by flying 10,000 kilometers non-stop.
“We regard the breaking of this record as a demonstration of capability,” Lt. Col. Itamar, commander of the squadron that operates the Re’em, told the IAF website.
“The air force knows that today it has a plane that can take off from the heart of the United States and land in Israel and vice versa, and that is an important achievement. The planes landed at the Nevatim Air Force base without a lot of extra fuel, but in a good and safe way as we expected.”
In August the IAF participated in Red Flag, an aerial exercise held at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, with five Re’ems. These planes are used for aerial refueling, and in joint training in the U.S. the aircraft carried out dozens of air refuelings of F15 and F15 I aircraft.
During the flight to the training base in the U.S., IAF planes refueled Jordanian fighter jets in the air, although the IAF’s chief of training, Col. Uri, declined to confirm this at the end of the exercise. The air forces of Jordan and Singapore also took part in the exercise.
An exercise called Blue Flag was completed two weeks ago in Israel, with the participation of Israeli, Greek and American pilots, as well as representatives from other countries training in coalition fighting.
