Nevatim Israeli Air Force Base (Hebrew: בסיס נבטים) (IATA: VTM, ICAO: LLNV), also Air Force Base 28, is an Israeli Air Force base located southeast of Be'er Sheva, near moshav Nevatim. It was built as a rough runway in 1947 for the Sherut Avir, the air wing of the Haganah, and was named Malhata after the archaeological site on which it was partly built. It was reopened in 1983 as a new modern airbase with two runways as the result of joint Israeli and US government funding as part of the IAF's redeployment out of its bases in the Sinai after it was returned to Egypt following the Camp David Accords. Since 2003 the base has gradually received more squadrons of F-16s. A third runway was built in the mid-2000s decade as part of a project to accommodate the transfer of military activities previously taking place at Ben Gurion Airport (Air Force Base 27) to Nevatim. Israel's growing fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35Is are currently based in Nevatim. All F-16s have been deactivated. From Wikipedia
