Cazaux military airfield
| Base aérienne 120 Cazaux | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LFBC | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 26 m (85 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 10 km south of La Teste-de-Buch | ||
| Street |
D 112 16 km to 
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| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1915 | ||
| operator | Armée de l'air | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 06/24 | 2400 m × 45 m concrete | ||
The base aérienne 120 Cazaux (BA 120) is a military airfield the French air forces . The base is located in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the department of Gironde about twelve kilometers south of Arcachon mainly in the area of the city of La Teste-de-Buch , on the eastern edge of the southern district in Cazaux. It serves as a flight training center not only for the French Armée de l'air , but also for the Republic of Singapore Air Force and is the main property of the Base de Défense de Cazaux .
history
At the beginning of 1914, the lake of Cazaux (French: Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet ) was chosen as a shooting range for seaplanes and the construction of the necessary infrastructure on the lake's shore began. After the outbreak of war in the summer of 1914, work was initially suspended. However, they were resumed after the first fighter squadron had been set up in the spring of 1915, and in January 1916, school flights began at the Cazaux firing range. As a result, the infrastructure for the operation of land aircraft was also created.
After the end of the First World War, Cazaux remained as a training ground - now also as a bomb firing range - and from 1927 a reconnaissance group consisting of two squadrons was also stationed. After the French defeat in the western campaign Cazaux was as from summer 1940 air base of the Air Force used. In the course of the war, parts of various task forces used the space, including the I. Group of the Night Fighter Wing 2 , the II. Of the Jagdgeschwader 26 and the III. of the destroyer squadron 1 . In addition, there were supplementary parts for Jagdgeschwader 51 , 54 and 2 . Between spring 1943 and summer 1944 the base was the target of Allied air raids.
After the repair of the base, Airfield R.51 , as Cazaux's allied code name was, was home to the French bomber group GB 1/31 "Aunis" equipped with captured Junkers Ju 88s in the last weeks of the war , but was again used exclusively for training purposes after the end of the war utilized. In 1962/1963 the bomber group 2/91 "Guyenne", which had previously been deployed in the Algerian war , was briefly stationed . This was replaced in 1964 by a hunting group equipped with Mystère IV , which merged with the local shooting center and henceforth operated two flying groups. They converted to Alpha Jets in 1982 and have formed the Ecole de Transition Opérationnelle (ETO) since 1995 .
In addition, from 1959, Cazaux housed a test center for NBC weapons and between 1964 and 1996 was the stationing site of a squadron of nuclear-armed Mirage IV bombers of the Force de frappe , the EB 2/91 "Guyenne".
In 1972 Cazaux also became a helicopter base when the base became the home of the EH 1/67 “Pyrénées” helicopter group. This was previously with its H-34 transport helicopters on the planned for closure base 119 Pau , which was operated until 1975. The first Pumas arrived the year before, some of which were replaced by Caracals from 2006 onwards. Since 1986 these types have also been used for SAR tasks. Also in 1974 Alouette III liaison helicopters were added, which were replaced in 1990 by Fennecs , which in turn belonged to the squadron until 1997.
The Singapore Air Force has also been using the base for advanced training since 1998 , for fifteen years on the Skyhawk and since 2013 on the M-346 .
In 2004 Belgium relocated eight and in 2005 its remaining Alpha Jets, which had previously been stationed in Beauvechain , to Cazaux for the joint Franco-Belgian Advanced Jet Pilot Training School (AJeTS). They formed the 11th season. As France will replace its Alpha Jets with PC-21 turboprop trainers from 2020 , Belgium decided to retire its copies and leave Cazaux. The AJeTS was closed in October 2018 and Belgian pilots have been trained in Sheppard as part of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training since 2019, like other NATO partners .
Since 2011, the airfield has been part of the cross-armed Base de Défense de Cazaux . In addition to base 120, this also includes the barracks of the 17e groupe d'artillerie of the land forces in Biscarosse Plage , which is located on the northern edge of a large military restricted area for missile testing.
In August 2014, the relocation of a third Alpha-Jet unit, the Escadron d'entraînement (EE 2/2) "Côte d'Or", previously based on Base 102 in Dijon , began to move to Cazaux and through the reintroduction of squadrons at the French Air Force, the 8th Fighter Wing ( 8e Escadre de Chasse ) was reactivated on August 25, 2015.
Todays use
The base currently houses (2020):
- 8e Escadre de chasse (8e EC) with three flying groups or relays, ETO 1/8 "Saintonge", ETO 2/8 "Nice" (since 1982) and EE 2/2 "Côte d'O" r (since 2014 ), equipped with Alpha Jet E, as well as the technical group 15.008 "Pilat"
- EH 1/67 "Pyrénées", transport and SAR helicopter group with SA330Ba Puma and EC725R Caracal (since 1974/2006)
- 150th Squadron of the RSAF, armed with M-346 (since 2013)
