In 2011, the 351st Air Refueling Squadron deployed a portion of its KC-135 Stratotanker fleet to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base in support of Operation Unified Protector, as the 351st Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron.
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The Black Knights returned to Istres, France, in August 1996 deploying five aircraft and 125 personnel in support of Operation Deny Flight.
Even during take-off from Istres on 18 October 1932, Marmoz noticed the aileron controls were slack, the ailerons themselves vibrated and there were large oscillations of the wings, with amplitude as much as 1 m.
The V.2 made its first flight from Istres on 2 October 1924, piloted by Florentin Bonnet.
It was re-engined with more powerful, 937 hp (699 kW) Gnome-Rhône 14N radials in 1937 before being entered into that year's Istres–Damascus–Paris race, finishing fifth in a time of 21 hours 3 min, with de-militarised Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s bombers occupying the first three places and a de Havilland Comet racer finishing fourth.
Typical of these exploits was Marcel Lalouette and Jean de Permangle's long-distance flight on 12 January 1931, where they flew an F.231 from Istres, France, to Villa Cisneros, in what was then French West Africa during which they covered 2,700 km (1,690 mi) in 22 hours and set a new distance record.
Some media reports have said that he had a history of mental illness while the RTL Group claim he is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
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This air base was one of 3 utilized by NASA as a contingency landing site for the Space Shuttle in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL).
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On April 25, 2013, a gunman shot and killed three people with a Kalashnikov rifle in a shooting spree in Istres.
On 20 December 1929, PL.8-02, registered F-AJKP to Cie Generale Aeropostale and based at Dakar, while flown by pilot Henry Delaunay, was badly damaged when it hit a pothole on landing at Istres and not repaired.
It is the second-largest commune in metropolitan Ouest-Provence and is located at the north end of the Étang de Berre lagoon, adjacent to and northeast of the city of Istres.
; Caproni Ca.405 Procellaria: A version built by Caproni specifically for the Istres-Damascus-Paris Air Race of 1937, but not completed in time.