Al Udeid Air Base

Al-Udeid Air Base
IATA: XJD – ICAO: OTBH
Summary
Airport type		Military
Owner		Qatar Emiri Air Force
Operator		United States Air Force / Royal Air Force / Royal Australian Air Force / Qatari Air Force
Serves		OEF, OIF, HOA
Location		Doha, Qatar
Elevation AMSL		130 ft / 40 m
Coordinates		25°07′02″N 051°18′53″E / 25.11722°N 51.31472°E / 25.11722; 51.31472
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
16/34	12,303	3,750	Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

Al Udeid Air Base is a military base west of Doha, Qatar. It houses foreign coalition personnel and assets. It is host to a forward headquarters of United States Central Command, headquarters of United States Air Forces Central Command, and home to both No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF and the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing of the USAF. In 1999, Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad,^[3] reportedly told US officials that he would like to see as many as 10,000 US servicemen permanently stationed at Al Udeid.

In 2003, fourteen RAAF F/A-18 Hornet fighters from 75SQN were based here, along with two P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft and three C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. At first the Hornets flew long missions of five or six hours, escorting and protecting coalition early warning AWACS aircraft and tanker aircraft used for air-to-air refuelling. Later, at the height of the war, the Hornets were used to attack Iraqi ground forces with laser-guided bombs. The Orions typically flew long 12-hour missions, especially at night, over the Persian Gulf. The versatile Hercules flew supplies and equipment into Iraq, and later flew some of the first humanitarian aid into Baghdad.

The fourteen RAAF Hornets flew over 670 sorties during the war, including 350 combat sorties over Iraq.

References

1. ^ Airport information for OTBH from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
2. ^ Airport information for IUD at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
3. ^ http://www.qatarembassy.net/emir.asp

External links

• "CNN Special Report: Al Udeid Air Base". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/coalition/deployment/air.force/al.udeid.html. 
• "Usage of Al Udeid Air Base". GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/udeid.htm. 
• "RAAF over Iraq". Australian War Memorial. http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/iraq/raaf.asp.