Lechfeld Air Base
| Lechfeld Air Base | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | ETSL | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 555 m (1821 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 1 km east of Lagerlechfeld | ||
| Street |
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| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1912 | ||
| operator | armed forces | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 03/21 | 2442 m × 30 m concrete | ||
The air base Lechfeld is a military airfield on the Lechfeld in Lagerlechfeld , a district of digging and Untermeitingen in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria .
During the Cold War , the airfield and barracks were used together for a long time by the US armed forces and the German armed forces . From 1958 to March 2013, the air base was the location of the Fighter Bomber Wing 32 (JaboG 32).
Since 2013, following the dissolution of Fighter Bomber Wing 32, it has no longer housed its own permanent unit, but has since served as an alternative location for Tactical Air Force Wing 74 (TaktLwG 74).
history
Shortly before the First World War , today's air base was set up in 1912 for the Bavarian Air Force , which operated it until 1918.
Wehrmacht air base
After the National Socialists came to power and the Wehrmacht Air Force was founded in 1935, it was the home of the IV (supplementary) group of Kampfgeschwader 54 and Kampfgeschwaders 40 . In June 1943, the 5th group of Kampfgeschwader 2 was formed here, which flew with the Messerschmitt Me 410 . The air base remained in operation until shortly before it was captured by American troops in the spring of 1945.
The following table shows a list of selected active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Wehrmacht Air Force that were stationed here between 1938 and 1945.
| From | To | unit | equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 1939 | February 1940 | II./KG 27 (II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 27) | Heinkel He 111P |
| December 1940 | January 1941 | Staff / LG 1 (Staff of the Lehrgeschwader 1) | Junkers Ju 88A |
| May 1940 | June 1940 | I./KG 51 | Junkers Ju 88A |
| November 1941 | January 1941 | Staff / SKG 210 (staff of the Schnellkampfgeschwader 210) | Messerschmitt Bf 110 |
| October 1942 | January 1943 | Staff, I./LLG 2 (Staff and I. Group of Airborne Squadron 2) | Heinkel He 111, Gotha Go 242 |
| December 1942 | January 1943 | IV./NJG 5 (IV. Group of the Night Fighter Squadron 5) | Messerschmitt Bf 110D-0, Junkers Ju 88C-6 |
| February 1943 | October 1943 | I./KG 4 | Heinkel He 111H-11, Heinkel He 111H-16, Heinkel He 177A-1 |
| June 1943 | June 1943 | V./KG 2 | Messerschmitt Me 410A-1 |
| October 1943 | April 1944 | I./KG 100 | Heinkel He 111H-11, Heinkel He 177A-3 |
| March 1944 | May 1944 | III./KG 40 | Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-3 , Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-4, Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-8 |
| May 1944 | September 1944 | III./ZG 26 (III. Group of Destroyer Squadron 26) | Messerschmitt Bf 110G-2 |
| June 1944 | July 1944 | III./KG 1 | Heinkel He 177A-3 |
| July 1944 | July 1944 | I./SKG 10 | Focke-Wulf Fw 190G-3 , Focke-Wulf Fw 190G-8 / R5 |
| November 1944 | December 1944 | I./JG 7 (I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 7) | Messerschmitt Me 262A-1 , Messerschmitt Me 262A-2 |
US Army
After its capture, the airfield was designated by the Allies as Airfield R.71 . The partially destroyed area was repaired and served as part of Operation "Lusty" until the summer of 1945 for the collection of German captured aircraft such as the Me 262 and other military equipment that were to be brought to the USA. From December 1945 to October 1946, the Lechfeld was the base of a B-17 equipped bomber group of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the 305th Bomb Group , which had previously bombed the field on May 18, 1944. From November 1946 to March 1947 there was a USAAF unit equipped with a P-47 .
After that, a camp for Jewish “displaced persons” was located here until 1951 and a military prison until around 1953.
The US Army then used the area as a firing range for their combat troops stationed in Augsburg. Until September 1998, the 66th Military Intelligence Group of the US Army maintained the so-called "Training Area Lechfeld" in Lechfeld. With the withdrawal of the US Army from Augsburg in the same year, the training area became the military security area of the Bundeswehr. The 66th MI-Group is currently stationed in Wiesbaden.
Furthermore, a special ammunition depot, which was specially secured by US soldiers and located on the air base east of the runway, was equipped with Pershing I missiles . The associated US personnel from the 74th US Army Field Artillery Detachment of the 512th US Army Artillery Group was housed in the Schwabstadl - barracks of JaboG 32, in a separate "custodial" area. The Air Force Security Squadron of Missile Squadron 1 (Klosterlechfeld) was provided by the Bundeswehr .
A COB base of the US Air Force , which still exists today, was installed at Lechfeld Air Base . It comprised a separate taxiway loop with aircraft parking spaces, a command post bunker and a storage hall for ground service equipment and vehicles. American A-10 ground attack aircraft would have operated from here in the event of a defense .
Flight days
As at other airfields, the US Army organized military flight days in Lechfeld. The last one was scheduled for September 1988 with the British Royal Air Force Red Arrows aerobatic team , but was canceled after the Ramstein air conference disaster in August of that year.
Bundeswehr air base
Shortly after the establishment of the Bundeswehr in 1956, air force units were stationed in the Schwabstadl barracks . The task of these units was to repair the barracks that had been damaged during the Second World War .
In 1958, Fighter Bomber Wing 32 was set up in the barracks. It received aircraft of the type F-84F "Thunderstreak" , which were in service until 1966. In August 1960, the 2nd air rescue and liaison squadron formed in 1959 with twelve Bristol Sycamore (later sixteen) and 12 Do 27 liaison aircraft moved to Lechfeld. The squadron with the badge of a Mickey Mouse with a medical kit used these helicopters until 1968. From 1962 the squadron also operated a SAR commando in horses field, which was relocated to Karlsruhe in 1964, and another such command was established in Ingolstadt in 1965. In April 1965 the name changed to 2nd helicopter rescue team .
The new F-104G "Starfighter" were put into service as early as 1965, and were in turn replaced by the Tornado from 1982 to 1984 , which is still in use at other Luftwaffe locations today. From June 25th to 26th, 1998 JaboG 32 hosted the NATO Tiger Meet . The additionally planned public flight day was canceled at short notice due to the train accident in Eschede that had happened shortly before . The NATO Tiger Meet on the Lechfeld was also planned for 2008; but it was canceled for various reasons.
For years, the squadron was the only Luftwaffe federation that had ECR tornadoes , which is why Fighter Bomber Wing 32 was heavily used in 1995 during the establishment of Einsatzgeschwaders 1 (EG 1) in Piacenza ( Italy ). The EC took one as a 1999 task force of NATO in the Kosovo war in part.
After JaboG 32 was dissolved, TaktLwG 74 took over the air base as an alternative location. For most of 2014 and then until autumn 2015, the squadron's flight operations were carried out from Lechfeld, as the runway at its main base in Zell was completely renovated.
Usage today and in the future
In addition, parts of the Air Force's technical training center should be relocated from Kaufbeuren to Lechfeld Air Base by 2017 . In addition, there is a training workshop at the air base in which the Bundeswehr trains civilian aircraft mechanics as well as IT system electronics technicians.
In the future, the Air Force will station the strategic A 400M transport aircraft in Lechfeld and invest 170 million euros in the infrastructure. In addition, 500 new posts are to be created in Lechfeld. The growing fleet of the A 400M will thus be split between the Wunstorf Air Base and another location.
Civil sharing
In March 2004 the press reported that the military airport would also be used for civilian purposes in the near future. The city of Augsburg was looking for a replacement for the Augsburg airfield . Its expansion seems unlikely because of the negative attitude of the residents, and the runway there is too small for today's passenger planes. However, the planning was stopped for the time being due to the high conversion costs and the resistance of the surrounding communities due to the expected additional aircraft noise. Instead, the civil use of Memmingen Airport was pursued.
The company Premium Aerotec , which operates a production line directly at the airfield, received a special permit in the early 2000s in order to be able to transport bulky aircraft segments from time to time with the Beluga , the super transporter from Airbus , for further processing. However, these flights were relocated to Manching in the following decade.
Lechfeld is also the home of the Sportfluggruppe Lechfeld e. V., which was founded in 1967 and whose beginnings go back to 1959.
After the special landing permit of the Bundeswehr Sportfliegergemeinschaft Fürstenfeldbruck was not extended in December 2015, it is now also on the premises of the air base.
See also
Web links
- Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )
- Homepage 66th Military Intelligence Group. ( Memento of May 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). (English).
- Aviation map for Lechfeld Air Base on SkyVector.com
literature
- Werner Bischler, Klaus Hager: 50 years of fighter-bomber squadron 32. 150 years of Lechfeld's military history. Achensee-Verlag, Augsburg 2008, ISBN 3-938330-05-8 .
- Helmut Ibach : Lechfeld, field of destiny. Publisher Winfried-Werk, Augsburg 1966.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Message from February 26, 2013 on luftwaffe.de
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-1945 Germany (1937 Borders). Pp. 382–384 , accessed August 29, 2014
- ↑ The Americans on the Lechfeld. America in Augsburg eV, accessed on November 9, 2019
- ^ OW Dragoon: The Bundeswehr 1989.
- ↑ Hans-Werner Ahrens : The rescue pilots of the air force 1956-1971: conception - construction - use. Volume 9 of publications on the history of the German Air Force, Carola-Hartmann-Miles-Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3945861936 , p. 134.
- ↑ datasheet. ( Memento from October 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
- ^ The stationing of the Bundeswehr in Germany in October 2011. p. 61.
- ↑ Von der Leyen puts pressure on Airbus. n-tv news, accessed on January 2, 2019 .
- ^ Minister: Second location for A400M transport aircraft. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
- ↑ EADS press release of September 30, 2002: EADS Augsburg plant opens new operations at Lechfeld Air Base. ( Memento from June 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Sportfluggruppe Lechfeld eV
- ↑ fursty.de