Incirlic Air Base

Incirlik Airbase

Incirlik Air Base (Turkish: İncirlik Hava Üssü, English: Incirlik Air Base, abbreviated Incirlik AB, IATA code: UAB, ICAO code: LTAG) is a military base near İncirlik, close to Adana in southern Turkey. It is owned by the Turkish Air Force. However, since its construction, the largest user has been the United States Air Force, which established its main hub for supplying US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan here after September 11, 2001. Between January 2016 and September 2017, the base was also used by the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. The air base has one runway, oriented 05/23, with a length of 3,048 meters.

History

Construction was decided upon at the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and involved land that the Ottoman Empire had acquired through expropriation from the Armenian population following the massacres during the Armenian Genocide beginning in 1915. In the spring of 1951, Turkish and US soldiers began construction work on the new base, which was originally intended as a training area. A 10,000-foot (3,048-meter) runway was completed in November 1954. On December 6, 1954, the Turkish and US armed forces agreed to joint use of the base, which was named Adana Air Base on February 21, 1955, and from that point onward, it was part of the United States Air Forces in Europe. The first American unit stationed at the airbase was the 7216th Air Base Squadron.

Adana Air Base In the 1950s, the purpose of the airbase changed from the initial decision in 1943: it was now to serve as an alternate base for long-range bomber operations and to support all US Air Force activities in southern Turkey. In October 1955, a fuel pipeline from the Mediterranean port of Yumurtalık, located about 50 kilometers to the southeast, was put into operation. The USAF changed the name of the military airfield to Incirlik Air Base on February 28, 1958. During the Lebanon Crisis in the summer of 1958, up to 150 USAF aircraft were stationed at Incirlik, including B-57s, RB-66/WB-66s, F-86Ds, F-100s, and RF-101s. After the crisis, the F-100s were the most frequent visitors to the base; they were later replaced by F-4s, F-15s, and F-16s.

Runways 05/23

Runway. Runway 05/23 is 10,000 ft. long x 148 ft. wide. It is made of a grooved concrete surface and has non-standard overruns for both Runway 05 and Runway 23. The Runway 05 overrun is 540 ft. long, and the Runway 23 overrun is 484 ft. long.

Non-standard LZ markings exists on Runway 05/23 and are used by the TurAF.

Taxiways and Parking Ramps

Taxiways Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, November, and Sierra are 75 ft. wide equipped with 50 ft.-wide paved shoulders.

Hotel and India Loop Taxiway are 39 ft. wide. Golf Loop is 75 ft. Wide. The loops are restricted to aircraft with wingspans less than 110 ft.

There are six parking ramps (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot). USAF has operational control of Alpha ramp, Echo ramp, Foxtrot ramp, and Bravo ramp spots one through six. TurAF has operational control of Charlie ramp, Delta ramp, and Bravo ramp spots seven through nine.

Air Picture

Short Facts
ICAO	LTAG
IATA	UAB
Coordiantes	37° 0´ 8" N 35° 25´ 33" E
Hight	240 ft MSL
Runways	05/23 3048 m x 45 m Beton
ILS	05 049°T 109.3 (IDAN) 23 229°T 111.7 (IDNA)
TACAN	21 X (DAN)