יחידה חדשה בצה"ל: כנף למבצעים מיוחדיםדובר צה"ל

Israel’s air force formally established a new wing Sunday, at a special ceremony held at Palmachim Air Force base in central Israel.

The new wing, the Seventh Wing of the Israel Air Force, will be called the Special Forces Wing, combining special operations air force units like the Shaldag Unit and Unit 669.

Israel Air Force Commander, Major General Amikam Norkin, took part in the ceremony, along with the commander of the newly established Seventh Wing, Colonel E., a former commander of Unity 669 and the Shaldag Unit.

According to Colonel E., who discussed the purpose of the new wing Sunday afternoon, the Seventh Wing of the IAF was established in response to the “operational need to confront the core challenges facing the [Air Force], and to offer creative, relevant solutions, and it is part of a process whose goal is to both strengthen and streamline" the Air Force.

An IDF spokesperson said the decision to establish the new wing was made "out of an understanding that the situation outside is changing all the time, therefore the Air Force needs to change as well."

"Combining special forces units will enable close, quality work by the units."

Units in the new wing will be better able to work together on future operations, the IDF said, with lessons learned during operations being more consistently applied to other units with the new wing.