Built in an unknown location, the ‘Eagle 44’ site can launch fighter jets and drones
The Iranian Army unveiled a new underground air base on Tuesday. Situated in an undisclosed mountainous location, the base is impervious to bombing and can service, fuel, arm, and launch fighter jets, bombers, and drones.
Video footage of the ‘Oqab 44’ (Eagle 44) facility was shown on Iranian state media, featuring what appears to be an F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber emerging from behind blast doors, before taxiing through a wide tunnel and taking off from an external runway.
The base is equipped with command posts, hangars, maintenance sites, fuel depots, and navigation equipment, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported. The Iranian military has constructed several such sites across the country, IRNA added, noting that while their locations remain a secret, all are built “under the mountains.”
Iran on Tuesday unveiled its first underground air force base, called "Eagle 44", the country’s official news agency IRNA reported."It is one of the army's most important air force bases, with fighters equipped with long-range cruise missiles and built in the depths of earth.” pic.twitter.com/KACSXkljyc
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 7, 2023
Footage from one of these bases – a drone site named ‘Strategic UAV Base 313’ – was revealed by the Iranian military last year. However, ‘Eagle 44’ is the Islamic Republic’s first underground base capable of hosting fighters and bombers that has been publicly revealed.
“Any attack on Iran from our enemies, including Israel, will see a response from our many air force bases including Eagle 44,” Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri told reporters during a visit to the base on Tuesday.
The unveiling of the base comes at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel, with Tehran blaming the Israeli military for a drone strike on a military site in the city of Isfahan last month. While Israel neither confirmed or denied its involvement, media reports claimed the attack was masterminded in West Jerusalem, while Ukrainian officials cryptically suggested that the strike was somehow connected to Iran’s alleged supply of ‘kamikaze’ drones to Russia.
Moscow and Tehran have both denied that Iranian drones are being used in Ukraine, with the Kremlin stating that it uses domestically-made UAVs to target Ukrainian military and infrastructure targets.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
