Ben Guerir Air Base

Ben Guerir Air Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Morocco, later operated by the Royal Moroccan Air Force, which served as a Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) site for the Space Shuttle. It is located about 36 mi north of Marrakech, near the town of Ben Guerir.

Ben Guerir was established in 1951 by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as one of five bases constructed in northwest Africa for SAC during a "crash program" which began in 1950. The base was located to allow for the rapid deployment of nuclear-armed B-47 Stratojets, without requiring aerial refueling. KC-97 Stratotankers were also deployed from the base. In 1956 the entire RB-47E force operated by the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing's 322nd, 323rd and 324th SR Squadrons spent 90 days TDY here. SAC occupied the base until 1963, The Base Operating unit was the 3926th Air Base (Later: Combat Support) Group, assigned to the 5th Air Division and later to the 4310th Air Division.

The base was designated as a TAL site for the Space Shuttle in July 1988, replacing the former TAL site at Casablanca. The site was chosen largely for its location near the nominal ground track of the shuttle orbiter for a mid-range inclination launch, meaning a diversion to the TAL site would allow for efficient use of fuel. Ben Guerir last served as a TAL site in June 2002, for STS-111, which landed at Edwards Air Force Base at the conclusion of its flight. The base was deactivated in 2005, after supporting 83 shuttle missions.

Ben Guerir has one runway which is oriented in a North-South direction, is 200 ft wide, with 25 ft shoulders, and is 13720 ft long with a 1000 ft underrun and a 2500 ft compacted dirt overrun, for a total length of 15720 ft. During renovation which were made by NASA in 1988, the runway was equipped with shuttle-unique landing aids, including a Microwave landing system and Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) system.

The Moroccan Air Force is currently upgrading Ben Guerir Air Base to support its pending acquisition of F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.