The commander of the Air Force, Major General Amikam Nurkin, will end his position this coming Monday after almost five years, when last Thursday he flew his last flight as a fighter pilot in the Air Force in Squadron 133 at the Tel Nof Corps base.
His flight stop event was attended by friends, past commanders and current commanders who spoke about the great excitement that gripped the esteemed corps commander, who in recent years has been one of the most influential figures in Israel's security.
President Herzog and General Nurkin, Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO
General Nurkin, 55, is a native of Beit She'arim, in the Jezreel Valley, and is considered a "workhorse."
About a week after graduating from high school he enlisted in a pilot course, and since then has not been abroad for a private vacation for a period of more than a week. He is the first to arrive at the office in the morning, sometimes the last to leave,
Since taking command of the Air Force in August 2017, the Air Force has participated in 408 operations across the arena, attacking 2,259 targets and dropping no less than 9,175 armaments across the Middle East.
Just last year, in the northern arena alone, the corps led dozens of air operations and dropped 586 armaments.
Threat of unmanned aerial vehicles
Syria, where, according to foreign publications, the Air Force operates regularly, is the country with the highest concentration of batteries and anti-aircraft missiles in the world. Of the Air Force 239 surface-to-air missiles, and in the last decade this is an incredible number of more than 1,200 surface-to-air missiles fired at Israeli aircraft and armaments.
As you may recall, one of them even managed to shoot down a "Storm" (F-16i) plane in February 2018, and fortunately the pilots managed to abandon it.
Syrian airstrikes are evidence of the Air Force's great challenge to maintain its air freedom, and it is no secret that one of the main reasons why Israel hardly takes a stand in the war in Ukraine is the attempt to maintain the same freedom of action in the north against the Russians. In TKA systems that threaten IDF aircraft, and in a number of cases, armaments have been launched at IDF unmanned aerial vehicles.
There are those in the Air Force who criticize the Israeli decision not to comment on this, and make it clear that next time Israel may act differently.
"Armaments at an IDF unmanned aerial vehicle." A tiny drone,
One of the major threats the Air Force was required to deal with during General Nurkin's tenure was the threat of unmanned aerial vehicles.
It was only recently that it was made public that the corps' F-35 planes shot down for the first time about a year ago two such aircraft launched from Iran towards Israel, and in total the IDF has shot down four Iranians since 2018.
As commander of the Air Force, General Nurkin led a regional defense program for Israel against UAVs, and recently a regional exercise was held for the task of intercepting UAVs.
The fact that Israel has greatly strengthened its ties with countries in the region allows for strategic depth that allows Israel to detect in early stages the launch of Iranian drones, even when they are far from Israel, and as was done about a year ago, also intercept them far from Israel's borders.
In general, in recent years the Air Force has greatly expanded its international collaborations, and even created groundbreaking collaborations, the fallout of which has not yet been removed.
Especially remember the joint flight with Germany over Dachau, and the visit of the commander of the German Air Force to the country.
In this context, it should be noted the heads of state plane, the grounded "Wing of Zion" for many months.
The Air Force believes that given its position in the world, and especially in light of the recent volume of political visits, Israel needs an official plane.
The corps, by the way, is prepared to pick up the plane at any moment.
"Israel must defend itself"
Through no fault of his own, General Nurkin leaves behind an Air Force with obsolete air platforms, and despite the regional arms race, the corps he led equips itself with a particularly slow pace of only six aircraft a year.
Nurkin believes that the war in Ukraine is a resounding reminder that Israel must defend itself in its own right, and the necessary conclusions must be drawn from this.
Next Air Force Commander, General Tomer Bar, Photo: IDF Spokesman
General Tomer Bar will replace him in less than a week.
The first challenge is of course preparing the Air Force for the possibility of attacking the nuclear facilities in Iran, after being guided by the political echelon, the Air Force has not dealt with it since the signing of the nuclear agreement in 2015.
In retrospect, there is no doubt that this is a wrong decision and a failure that cries to heaven, but the Air Force in this case only carries out the orders.
In practice, only last year, following the change of government in the US and Iran's rush to the nucleus, the Air Force was instructed to prepare for the attack and at this time - it still has no ability to attack Iran. Will be the main task of Champion Bar.
The outgoing Air Force commander believes that the Air Force must enter the field of space more strongly, as a collection satellite for the Air Force is already being developed in Israel.
It will also introduce weapons into the corps that will allow fire to be fired from both the air and the ground, thus actually fulfilling the plan of the former defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who demanded the establishment of a "missile corps" on land.
However, now the array will be set up within the Air Force and will be more economical because the armament will be versatile and can be launched from both the air and the ground.
The Air Force is also preparing for the absorption of laser technology, both for the air defense system as a complement to the "Iron Dome" system and later, in about three years, also as air armament.
"Promoted Women in the Air Force."
Four women who completed a pilot course,
Another issue that Maj. Gen. Nurkin tried to change in his position is the new permanent model in the IDF, which he claims is not suitable for the Air Force, which is a professional corps. , Who do not advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, makes it very difficult for the corps to operate. This is because the technicians, controllers, inspectors and more are released early, and thus their knowledge and experience are lost.
To the credit of General Nurkin is the promotion of women in the Air Force, when in his time he took care of promoting women to key positions such as squadron commanders, deputy squadron commanders and battalion commanders.
In the last five years, 23 women have completed the Air Force pilot course, about a third of the women who have completed the Air Force pilot courses since they were opened to women and the number of girls attending pilot course formulations has increased significantly.
The Air Force has also recently begun a pilot of dealing with the phenomenon of sexual harassment and disrespectful discourse.
In addition to an organizational survey that servants are required to complete on the subject, the corps has begun distributing explanatory leaflets on the subject, under the heading "The heart - going to a safe place."
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
