Al Taqaddum Air Base (Tammuz Airbase)

Al Taqaddum Air Base, also identified as Camp Taqaddum or Tammuz Airbase, is situated in Habbaniyah, approximately 74 kilometers west of Baghdad. The Royal Air Force established the facility in 1952 as Plateau Airfield, a subsidiary of RAF Habbaniya, to accommodate long-range and jet aircraft. The Iraqi government subsequently expanded the site, adding a parallel runway.

Historically, the base served as a station for several Iraqi Air Force units, including the 14th, 73rd, 6th, 5th, 105th, and 109th Squadrons. These units operated Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, MiG-23, and MiG-29 fighters, as well as Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-25 attack aircraft. During the 1991 Gulf War, the base was the target of Coalition air strikes involving F-117A Nighthawks and U.S. Navy carrier air wings, which struck radar facilities and Tupolev Tu-16 bombers. In 2003, U.S. forces occupied the site, initially designating it Forward Operating Base Ridgway before renaming it Camp Taqaddum in 2004. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, it functioned as a logistics hub for personnel and materiel moving into Anbar province.

The Iraqi military assumed control of the base in 2009. From 2015 to 2020, a portion of the facility known as Camp Manion hosted Task Force Spartan, which included the I Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division, and elements from the Australian and Italian armed forces. On April 5, 2020, the base was formally transferred back to the Iraqi security forces.

Current operations are conducted by the Iraqi Army 10th Division and the Anbar Operations Command Center. Infrastructure at the site includes 24 hardened aircraft shelters located at the runway ends. Aircraft types documented at the facility include the Tupolev Tu-22, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, Sukhoi Su-7U, and Ilyushin Il-76. Some historical Royal Air Force structures, including Nissen huts, remain on the installation.