Homesteads) (ICAO: LLHB) is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base on the northern edge of the Negev desert in the Southern District of Israel, 6 km west of Beersheba, near kibbutz Hatzerim.

From 1969 until today there's the "Flying Tiger" Squadron with jet trainers at Hatzerim, which flew the TA-4H Skyhawk Ayit two-seater for many years (see photo down below), but also its one-seater fighter version A-4H/N.

After the base was opened, the IAF Flight Academy was relocated here from Tel Nof Airbase and has since then mainly used the northwestern part of the airfield and its runway for its propeller aircraft.

These Hatzerim aircraft were also used during the Six-Day War to carry out attacks on enemy radar stations and anti-aircraft artillery and also did close air support (CAS).

From 1969 it flew the F-4E Phantom II Kurnass (see gallery below), moved to Hatzerim Airbase in 1991 and received the F-15I Ra'am from 1998, which is derived from the F-15E Strike Eagle (see also "Units").

On 6 September 2007, four F-15Is of the "Hammers" Squadron at Hatzerim and four F-16Is of Ramon Airbase flew an attack on an almost completed nuclear reactor in Syria under the code name Operation Outside the Box and destroyed it.

[8] They wanted to prevent Syria from building atomic bombs from the nuclear material obtained (see photo of the destroyed reactor in the gallery directly below).

[11] All pilots in the aerobatic team also work as instructors at the flight academy and fly the same machines in both facilities, currently T-6 Texan II Efroni turboprop two-seater.

[12] The 25 jets of the F-15I Ra'am from the "Hammers" Squadron on Hatzerim are to be upgraded from 2029 on as F-15I+ to the latest standard, they will receive the same avionics and systems as the new Boeing F-15EX Eagle II of the USAF.

In March of the following year, after extensive investigations, the IDF announced that the accident had been caused by a stall at too low an altitude, which means human error.