Rayak Air Base

Rayak Air Base (ICAO: OLRA) is located in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, between the towns of Zahlé and Anjar. The facility originated in 1914 as a dirt runway constructed by German engineers from a Bavarian air regiment supporting Ottoman forces during World War I. Following its capture by Allied forces in 1920, the French Armée de l'Air utilized the site during the French Mandate of Lebanon. During World War II, Vichy French forces operated the airfield until it was captured and used by Allied units, including 451 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force. Lebanon assumed command of the base on August 1, 1945. After the French Air Force evacuated in 1949, the Lebanese army rebuilt the infrastructure. The site is the birthplace of the Lebanese Air Force, established on June 1, 1949. During the 1950s, Royal Air Force instructors operated from the base to assist in training.

The Lebanese Air Force operates the facility. It hosts the Lebanese Air Force Aviation School, which trains military pilots using Robinson Raven R44 II helicopters and Bulldog T1 propeller aircraft. The installation also houses the Lebanese Air Force Technical School, which qualifies technicians for the service. The base acts as the primary storage location for grounded fixed-wing assets, including Hawker Hunter jets, and is the final repository for retiring Lebanese military aircraft.

Infrastructure at the base includes an administration building, a control tower, barracks, workshops, an officers club, housing, and a parachute tower. Multiple hangars remain from the French Mandate period. Both runways are equipped with a low intensity runway lights (LIRL) system. The facility houses a UH-1 helicopter simulator from the US military, which functions as the only flight simulator in the Lebanese armed forces. The site also contains the restricted-access Lebanese Air Force Museum, which stores historical airframes including the T6 Texan, de Havilland Dove, de Havilland Vampire T55, Hawker Hunter F6, Sud Aviation SE3130 Alouette II, Sud Aviation SA316B Alouette III, Fouga CM170 Magister, and Aerospatiale SA342L Gazelle.