Volkel military airfield

Vliegbasis Volkel
Characteristics
ICAO code	EHVK
Coordinates	51 ° 39 '26 "  N , 5 ° 41' 27"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 39 '26 "  N , 5 ° 41' 27"  E
Height above MSL	22 m (72  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	5 km east of Uden
Street	6 km to the A 50
Basic data
opening	1943
operator	Dutch Air Force
Runways
06L / 24R	3024 m × 45 m asphalt
06R / 24L	3027 m × 23 m asphalt

The Vliegbasis Volkel is a military airfield of the Dutch Air Force . The base is in the province of North Brabant in the area of ​​the municipality of Volkel east of the city of Uden . It serves the Dutch armed forces ( KLu ) in particular as one of two combat aircraft bases.

history

After the occupation of the Netherlands by the German Wehrmacht in May 1940, the Air Force began building an alternative area for fighter planes . In the course of the Second World War, the Air Force in 1943 extended the airfield into a full-fledged air base . Volkel was among other things the base of the 5th destroyer group with Ju 88 and the III. Group of the Jagdgeschwaders 1 (III./JG 1) Bf-109G (Winter 1943/44). After the Allied invasion of Normandy in the summer of 1944, the square was increasingly bombed by the Allies. End of August 1944 came for a few days, the Ar 234 V7 , the prototype of a jetgetriebenen bomber, used and V1 - cruise missiles were also launched from Volkel. At the beginning of September, the Ju 188E of the I. Group of the Kampfgeschwaders 6 (I./KG 6) and Me 262A of the I. Group of the Kampfgeschwader 51 (I./KG 51) used the Volkel Air Base. Heavy air strikes in connection with Operation Market Garden ended its use by the Air Force.

After liberation of the area by the Western Allies used the British Royal Air Force (RAF) Airfield B.80 , the Allied code name Volkels, between autumn 1944 and spring 1945 in particular as the basis of a fighter-bomber squadrons of the types Typhoon 1B ( 121 Wing ) and Tempest V ( 122nd Wing ). Commodore of the 122nd Squadron was Pierre Clostermann . The base, more precisely the 12 km further south east of Gemert in June 1944 created by the Air Force "Rips" ( Airfield B.84 ) was used in October 1944 by Canadian Spitfires of the 126th Wing . Between April and November 1945 mosquitos of the 136th Wing were lying here , one of the two squadrons was also a Canadian.

The base was used by the Dutch naval aviators from 1949 , but they handed the facility over to the Koninklijke Luchtmacht in the following year . As a result of the Cold War that had begun , the base was expanded into a full-fledged combat aircraft base. The first deployed mission model was the British Gloster Meteor in the early 1950s .

Subsequently, only American aircraft types were used, initially four squadrons F-84E / G / F Thunderjet / Thunderstreak (1951 to 1965) and later three squadrons of the supersonic F / RF / TF-104G Starfighter (1962 to 1984). There were also T / RT-33A from 1952 to 1972.

As on other NATO bases, 32 Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) were built in the 1970s . The Lockheed Martin F-16A / B , which is still flown and has since been modernized , was introduced between 1982 and 1984.

use

The base is currently (2014) used by the following flying squadrons :

• 312nd and 316th Squadron , equipped with Lockheed Martin F-16A / B MLU multi -role combat aircraft (from 1982, then with the now defunct 311st Squadron ).

There are also other non-flying formations.

After Leeuwarden, Volkel is to become the second base for the Dutch F-35A .

The US is storing tactical type B61 atomic bombs there .

Web links

Commons : Volkel Air Base  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Base homepage in Dutch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22840880
2. ↑ Ben Riley-Smith: European sites where US nuclear weapons held inadvertently revealed in Nato-linked document . In: The Telegraph . July 16, 2019, ISSN  0307-1235 ( telegraph.co.uk [accessed July 17, 2019]).