Mont-de-Marsan military airfield
| Base aérienne 118 Mont-de-Marsan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LFBM | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 62 m (203 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 2 km north of Mont-de-Marsan | ||
| Street |
D 53E 14 km to 
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| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1934 | ||
| operator | Armée de l'air | ||
| surface | 670 ha | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 09/27 | 3603 m × 45 m concrete | ||
The Base aérienne 118 Mont-de-Marsan (BA 118) is a military airport of the French Air Force ( Armée de l'air ). The base is located in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the department of land about two kilometers north of the center of Mont-de-Marsan . In addition, it houses Rafale - multi-role combat aircraft , a flight test center.
history
Flying in Mont-de-Marsan began in 1911 and in 1934 was a small civilian airfield for the local at the current location Luftsportverein opened.
After the outbreak of war in 1939, the area became the site of a flight school before it was occupied by the German Air Force in the summer of 1940 . For a week in October 1940 the Bf 109E of the II. And III. Jagdgeschwader 2 group (II. And III./JG 2).
The site was then a generous air base built with concrete runway. After completion, the place became home to a fighter pilot school with Bf 109 , Fw 200 and Ju 290 long-range reconnaissance aircraft for naval warfare . The latter were in the service of Staff, 1st and 2nd Squadron of Long Distance Reconnaissance Group 5 between June 1943 and August 1944 . In May / June 1944 the Fw 190A of the II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 26 (II./JG 26) also flew their missions from Mont-de-Marsan.
In the course of the war, the airfield was repeatedly the target of Allied air raids.
After the war, the Armée de l'air decided to re-establish the Center d'expériences aériennes militaires (CEAM), which was located in Orléans before the war and is still located here to the present day. The heavily damaged square had to be prepared for this after the war. Within the CEAM, the “Section Mirage” was activated in 1965 as the test hunting group ECE 5/330 “Côte d'Argent”.
From 1964, flying elements of the nuclear Force de frappe were stationed here, including the Mirage IV nuclear bombers and the strategic tanker aircraft C-135F / FR . The Mirage IV flew in the nuclear role until 1996 and was then used as a conventional bomber for nine years, while the tankers moved to the 125 Istres base in 1996 . Since 1969 the base 118 has housed an operations center for the air defense.
From 2002 a transport relay CN235-200 was here . This moved to the base 110 Creil in 2011 and Mont-de-Marsan was still home for three years to the Mirage F1CR reconnaissance aircraft, which had previously been stationed on the base 112 Reims-Champagne , which was closed in 2011 . At the same time, the airfield became the second Rafele base of the Armée de l'air .
The F1 squadron, the hunting regiment ( Régiment de chasse ) RC 2/33 "Savoie" with its Mirage F1 CR , was decommissioned in June 2014.
Due to the reintroduction of squadrons into the French Air Force, the 30th Fighter Squadron ( 30e Escadre de chasse ) was reactivated on September 3, 2015. The flying squadrons were renumbered in a row in 2016 and with the "Lorraine" a second squadron arrived in Mont-de-Marsan in 2016.
Todays use
The main user of the base is the 30e Escadre de chasse (30e EC), reactivated in 2015 , to which three flying groups or squadrons are currently (2016) subordinate.
- ECE 1/30 "Côte d'Argent", experimental fighter squadron, as part of the CEAM, see below, has been using various jet-powered combat aircraft since 1965 (until 2016 as ECE 5/330)
- RC 2/30 " Normandie-Nyemen ", operational squadron equipped with the Rafale , since 2012
- EC 3/30 "Lorraine", a squadron equipped with the Rafale, since 2016
- Operational support units: Rafale Training Center 23,321, Rafale Intermediate Technical Team 61,590 and Technical Group 1E.118 "Chalosse"
There is also the Center d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires (CEAM), the military flight test center with the Eloka Group 07/330.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Armée de l'air: Hunting units on the BA 118. www.defense.gouv.fr, July 25, 2014, accessed on July 26, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Nouvelles escadres aériennes: une cohérence opérationnelle accrue, des valeurs renforcées, website of the Armée de l'air, August 28, 2015