69th ("The Hammers") Squadron

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Role: Strike/Attack
Aircraft serving: F-15 I ("Ra'am", Hebrew for thunder)
Nickname(s): The Hammers (Hebrew: פטישים‎, Patishim)

69 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force (also known as The Hammers) was formed in 1948, and made its combat debut on July 15, 1948 when Israeli bombers struck targets in Cairo, Egypt. In its first ten years of operation, 69 Squadron was composed of former US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, beginning with three B-17s in 1948. The B-17s were transferred to 103 Squadron in 1954, and were placed in storage for several months in 1956. In October 1956, 69 Squadron was reactivated for the Sinai Campaign, but was disbanded at the end of that conflict.

Thirteen years later, in 1969, 69 Squadron was reformed as the second Israeli Air Force F-4E Phantom squadron. Commanded by Avihu Ben-Nun, it was quickly pressed into service in the ongoing War of Attrition. Between late 1969 and the ceasefire of August 1970, 69 and 201 Squadrons lost nine aircraft altogether, although Israel received eight additional F-4E Phantoms in July 1970.

Alongside regular F-4Es, 69 squadron also employed the reconnaissance variant of the Phantom, the RF-4E. During the Yom Kippur war of 1973, the squadron lost several aircraft. 69 Squadron was disbanded in the mid 1990s, but was reformed shortly later in anticipation of the arrival of Israel's new F-15Is in 1998.

In early 2006 it was reported that the squadron was preparing for a possible preemptive strike against the Iranian nuclear program. According to The Sunday Times, F-15Is from 69 Squadron took part in Operation Orchard, the September 6, 2007 airstrike on a suspected nuclear site in Syria.