Danish Air Force

Flyvevåbnet
Lineup	October 1, 1950
Country	Denmark
Type	Armed forces ( air forces )
commander
Chief of the air force	Major General Max Nielsen
insignia
Aircraft cockade
National emblem ( vertical stabilizer )

The Flyvevåbnet (Air Force), known in NATO as the Royal Danish Air Force , are the air forces of the Kingdom of Denmark and the third branch of the Danish armed forces . It has a staff of around 3,500 men and women.

tasks

The management of their operations lies with the command command ( Flyverstaben ) in Karup and in the higher-level logistic area with the JMTO ( Joint Movement and Transportation Organization ) in Brabrand , western Aarhus and Karup. In addition to the airfields listed below, Flyvevåbnet operates radar stations under the command of the control and early warning group. These constantly monitor the airspace over Denmark and can use fighter planes for immediate defense and air defense and, in the event of war, additional anti-aircraft missiles on the orders of the Air Force Command Command .

history

During the Second World War , the Danish airfields were expanded and rebuilt by the German occupying forces . After the end of the war, the restored flying formations of the army and the navy ( Hærens Flyvertropper and Marinens Flyvevæsen ) were under . Their equipment consisted especially from used Supermarine Spitfire HF.IXE and PR.XI . The two associations were merged on May 27, 1950 to Flyvevåbnet , which the Spitfire used until 1956. As a NATO member, Denmark used warplanes from the American century series in particular during the Cold War, such as the North American F-100D and F and the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter , as well as Swedish Saab Draken . The F-100 and Saab Draken were replaced by the F-16, the F-100 at the beginning of the 1980s - the machines were sold in Turkey - the Draken only in 1991.

At the beginning of the 1950s, helicopters were introduced to the air force and later to the army, with the former handing over these machines to the navy in 1977, which they also used as an on- board helicopter . The Lockheed Hercules, also procured in these years, were replaced in 2004 by the modernized version Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules .

The modernized General Dynamics F-16A / B were put into service as early as 1980 ; Denmark, along with the Netherlands , Belgium and Norway, was one of the first European users of this model. The number of active machines, a total of 77 were procured, but was first reduced to 49 and then to 30 after the end of the Cold War.

During the first combat mission of NATO, Operation Allied Force in Kosovo in 1999, Danish machines were also used. In the first decade of the new millennium, Danish machines also took part in missions in Afghanistan . A Danish AW101 Merlin had an accident there in October 2014 near the camp in Mazar-e Sharif .

With the exception of the on-board helicopters, all helicopters have been under the control of the air force since the mid-2000s; the most important type in the future will be the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin . As a successor to the F-16 machines of the type Lockheed Martin F-35 were initially planned, but after the costs of the program had continued to rise, the procurement was put on hold. The competition was re-announced in March 2013. The decision on the chosen type was made in 2016 in favor of the F-35.

equipment

The equipment of the Danish Air Force consisted of the following aircraft at the end of 2014:

Warplanes

Danish F-16 in special livery for the 66th anniversary at the Florennes military airfield , Belgium

All 30 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft of the Danish Air Force are stationed at Skrydstrup base . Six machines are two-seater type F-16BM for training and further education of the pilots. The machines are used as interceptors, e.g. B. in the context of the alarm riot in Denmark or in Air Policing Baltic States , and used fighter bombers. In the latter role, the Danish Air Force took part in the 2011 air raids on Libya . Since August 2013 it has been possible to equip the F-16 with the litening sensor, which improves target accuracy when dropping air-to-ground weapons. Major maintenance work on the machines, such as mid-life upgrades or structural work, is carried out in Aalborg.

Transport and reconnaissance aircraft

Hercules on Vejers Beach

The fleet of eight Danish transport and reconnaissance aircraft is stationed at Eskadrille 721 at Aalborg Airport and consists of four Lockheed C-130-30J Hercules for the transport of vehicles or other bulky goods and four Canadair CL-604 Challenger for VIP transport and for education in coastal and marine areas. The fleet supplies, among other things, Danish base camps in Greenland such as Station Nord (at 81 ° north latitude ).

Denmark initially procured three C-130-30J Hercules, which were delivered in early 2004 and exercised the option for a fourth aircraft in July 2004; this was delivered in 2007. The country is a member of the C-130J Joint User Group and is therefore involved in the further development of the type; From the original standard Block 5.4 , which the machines had when they were delivered, they have been gradually upgraded to Block 6.1 and are to be modernized to Block 8 by the end of 2017 .

The first three CL-604s were procured between 1998 and 2001 and replaced the Gulfstream III machines that were in use until 2004 . A fourth aircraft of the same type entered service in 2014. Various sensors can be attached to the aircraft for maritime reconnaissance missions. All four CL-604s are to be equipped with new sensors and new avionics by 2018 .

helicopter

Danish AW101 Merlin

The helicopter squadron in Karup uses a total of 30 helicopters, eight of them AS550 C2 Fennec , 14 AgustaWestland AW101 and eight Westland Lynx , which are also used from the ships of the Navy. The Lynx helicopters are to be replaced by nine Sikorsky UH-60s between 2016 and 2018 .

Training aircraft

The Danish Air Force selects its pilots itself, for which 32 T-17 machines, the Danish name for the Swedish Saab Safari , were stationed at Karup Air Base from September 1975 . Five machines were lost in accidents by September 2016, other machines in the fleet were handed over to the three squadrons as liaison aircraft; by 2010 the fleet had accumulated over 200,000 flight hours. After the training in Karup, the training of prospective pilots will continue in the USA, for jet pilots at the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas , for transport pilots in Little Rock in Arkansas and for helicopter pilots in Fort Rucker , Alabama .

Air bases

Flyvestation Aalborg

Flyvestation Karup

Flyvestation Skrydstrup

Flyvestation Værløse
(1934-2004)

Flyvestation Aarhus
(1943–1998)

Flyvestation Lundtofte
(1917–1956)

Flyvestation Vandel
(1943-2003)

Active bases of Flyvevåbnet in Denmark

Former air bases

The flying formations are essentially the combat squadron at the Skrydstrup military airfield , the transport aircraft in Aalborg and the helicopters at the base in Karup . All three courses are on mainland Jutland .

Flyvestation Aalborg , Region Nordjylland , Air Transport Wing Aalborg with Eskadrille 721 (one Hercules and Challenger Flight each ) and some T-17
Flyvestation Karup , Midtjylland region , Helikopter Wing Karup with Eskadrille 722 (AW101), 723 (Westland Lynx, on- board helicopter) and 724 (Fennec), the Flyveskolen (flight school, with T-17)
Flyvestation Skrydstrup , Region Syddanmark , Fighter Wing Skrydstrup with Fighter Squadrons 727 and 730 (F-16)

The “cradle” of the air force, the Flyvestation Værløse , is now closed.

Web links

Official website of Flyvevåbnet

Individual evidence

↑ Chef for Flyverstaben ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Ole Nikolajsen: Flyvevåbnet - Denmark's Air Force in the Cold War. Flieger Revue Extra, Möller 2011, ISSN 0941-889X , p. 80.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Søren Augusten: Defendable Danes . In: Air Forces Monthly . No. 10 . Key Publishing, October 2016, ISSN 0306-5634 , p. 84-89 .
↑ World Air Forces 2014. (PDF) Flightglobal, accessed on January 22, 2015 (English).
↑ ^a ^b The Royal Danish Air Force. Forsvaret, accessed April 20, 2015 .
↑ Craig Hoyle: Danish F-16s drop their first bombs on Libya. In: Flightglobal.com. March 23, 2011, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): "A detachment of six Danish F-16s touched down at Sigonella air base in Sicily on March 19, two days after the UN security council had passed resolution 1973 approving the introduction of measures against the Libyan state, including the imposition of a no-fly zone. "
↑ Craig Hoyle: Danish F-16s to get Litening G4 targeting pods. In: Flightglobal.com. June 26, 2012, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): "Denmark is to acquire an undisclosed number of Northrop Grumman Litening G4 advanced targeting pods for use by its Lockheed Martin F-16s, with deliveries to start in August 2013."
^ Danes sign up for fourth Hercules. In: Flightglobal.com. July 22, 2005, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): “The Royal Danish Air Force has exercised its option for a fourth Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, the company announced at the show yesterday. The aircraft is likely to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2007. The first three were delivered to the service earlier this year. "
^ Søren Augustensen: Denmark's Challengers . In: Air International . No. 4 . Key Publishing, April 2015, ISSN 0306-5634 , p. 82-85 .
↑ Beth Stevenson: Danish air force planning Challenger 604 mid-life upgrade. In: Flightglobal.com. April 20, 2015, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): "The Royal Danish Air Force is preparing to embark on a mid-life upgrade of its Bombardier Challenger 604 maritime patrol aircraft, which is expected to be implemented by 2018."
↑ Craig Hoyle: Denmark confirms MH-60R selection to replace Lynx helicopters. In: Flightglobal.com. November 21, 2012, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): “The Sikorsky / Lockheed Martin MH-60R Seahawk has been selected to replace Denmark's Westland Lynx shipborne helicopters, with the US team having beaten a rival offer of AgustaWestland's new generation AW159 Lynx Wildcat. "

[1] Chef for Flyverstaben ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[2] Ole Nikolajsen: Flyvevåbnet - Denmark's Air Force in the Cold War. Flieger Revue Extra, Möller 2011, ISSN 0941-889X , p. 80.

[afm2016September-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Søren Augusten: Defendable Danes . In: Air Forces Monthly . No. 10 . Key Publishing, October 2016, ISSN 0306-5634 , p. 84-89 .

[flightglobal-airforces-2014-4] World Air Forces 2014. (PDF) Flightglobal, accessed on January 22, 2015 (English).

[forsvaret-5] The Royal Danish Air Force. Forsvaret, accessed April 20, 2015 .

[fg20110323-6] Craig Hoyle: Danish F-16s drop their first bombs on Libya. In: Flightglobal.com. March 23, 2011, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): "A detachment of six Danish F-16s touched down at Sigonella air base in Sicily on March 19, two days after the UN security council had passed resolution 1973 approving the introduction of measures against the Libyan state, including the imposition of a no-fly zone. "

[fg20120626-7] Craig Hoyle: Danish F-16s to get Litening G4 targeting pods. In: Flightglobal.com. June 26, 2012, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): "Denmark is to acquire an undisclosed number of Northrop Grumman Litening G4 advanced targeting pods for use by its Lockheed Martin F-16s, with deliveries to start in August 2013."

[fg20040722-8] Danes sign up for fourth Hercules. In: Flightglobal.com. July 22, 2005, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): “The Royal Danish Air Force has exercised its option for a fourth Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, the company announced at the show yesterday. The aircraft is likely to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2007. The first three were delivered to the service earlier this year. "

[ai201504-9] Søren Augustensen: Denmark's Challengers . In: Air International . No. 4 . Key Publishing, April 2015, ISSN 0306-5634 , p. 82-85 .

[fg20150420-10] Beth Stevenson: Danish air force planning Challenger 604 mid-life upgrade. In: Flightglobal.com. April 20, 2015, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): "The Royal Danish Air Force is preparing to embark on a mid-life upgrade of its Bombardier Challenger 604 maritime patrol aircraft, which is expected to be implemented by 2018."

[fg20121121-11] Craig Hoyle: Denmark confirms MH-60R selection to replace Lynx helicopters. In: Flightglobal.com. November 21, 2012, accessed on April 20, 2015 (English): “The Sikorsky / Lockheed Martin MH-60R Seahawk has been selected to replace Denmark's Westland Lynx shipborne helicopters, with the US team having beaten a rival offer of AgustaWestland's new generation AW159 Lynx Wildcat. "