Kibrit Air Base (RAF Kabrit)

Kibrit Air Base is located in Kabrit, Egypt, approximately 20 miles north of Suez and 125 km east of Cairo. Established during World War II as Royal Air Force (RAF) Station Kabrit, or Landing Ground 213, the facility served as a site for the Western Desert campaign. The Special Air Service (SAS) was formed at this location in 1941. During the war, the station hosted multiple RAF squadrons operating aircraft including the Vickers Wellington, Bristol Blenheim, Martin Baltimore, and Supermarine Spitfire. In 1943, United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force units arrived, deploying P-40 Warhawk and B-25 Mitchell aircraft. Post-war, the base hosted RAF transport and reconnaissance squadrons operating the Douglas Dakota, Vickers Valetta, and Gloster Meteor until the British withdrawal from the Suez Canal Zone in 1956.

The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) assumed control of the facility in 1956 and renamed it Kibrit. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, the base hosted EAF 20 Squadron, which operated Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the station's Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 aircraft were targeted. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israeli ground forces captured the airfield, though the Israeli Air Force did not utilize the facility for flight operations.

Kibrit Air Base currently functions as an operational EAF helicopter base. It hosts a unit of SA-342 Gazelle helicopters. Infrastructure includes hangars used for aircraft housing, though the asphalt has been removed from the primary runways.