Abu Sultan Air Base (RAF Deversoir)

Abu Sultan Air Base, designated as LG-209, is an Egyptian Air Force installation located in the Ismailia Governorate, approximately 19 kilometers south-southeast of Ismailia on the northwest shore of the Great Bitter Lake. Originally established in the 1930s as RAF Deversoir, the facility was built by the Royal Air Force to support the defense of the Suez Canal.

During the Second World War, the base functioned as an airfield for the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces during the Western Desert and North African campaigns. United States units assigned to the station included the 57th Bombardment Wing, the 12th Bombardment Group operating B-25 Mitchells, the 316th Troop Carrier Group using C-47 Skytrains, and the 19th Photographic Mapping Squadron with B-24/F-7 Liberators. In February 1945, the airfield served as a transit point for U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Post-war Royal Air Force operations included the stationing of the No. 324 Fighter Wing, which operated de Havilland Vampire and Gloster Meteor aircraft. The facility was transferred to the Egyptian Air Force in March 1955, and the final British units vacated the station in June 1956. By 1958, the Egyptian Air Force utilized the base for Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Vampire squadrons. The installation was subsequently involved in the Yom Kippur War and Operation Abirey-Halev.

The Egyptian Air Force currently operates the base as a helicopter installation. It is the home of the 30 and 56 Squadrons, which fly Aérospatiale SA-342L Gazelle armed helicopters.

Infrastructure at the site includes modern hardened aircraft shelters constructed on dispersal pads dating from the original wartime layout. The facility maintains active flight surfaces and helicopter support installations. Historical records indicate the site was equipped with both permanent and temporary personnel accommodations and bulk fuel storage assets.