NATO airfield Geilenkirchen
| NATO airfield Geilenkirchen | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | ETNG |
| IATA code | GKE |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 90 m (295 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 6 km west of Geilenkirchen |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1953 |
| operator | NATO |
| Employees | 2400 |
| Start-and runway | |
| 09/27 | 3051 m × 45 m 30 cm thick asphalt pavement |
The NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen , English name Air Base Geilenkirchen is a military airfield of NATO in Germany and is close to the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Geilenkirchen on the Dutch border.
The facility, initially known as Royal Air Force Station Geilenkirchen , RAF Geilenkirchen for short , was next to RAF Wildenrath , RAF Brüggen , RAF Laarbruch and RAF Nörvenich , the fourth of a total of five so-called Clutch Stations , newly built Royal Air Force (RAF) bases nearby the border with the Netherlands and thus as far away as possible from the then inner-German border .
Since 1980 it has been the main operating base (MOB) of the NATO E-3A association, one of the two operational units of the NATO early warning fleet and, since 2015, the seat of the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force Command - NAEW & CF.
Location and history of the NATO airfield Geilenkirchen
The NATO airfield Geilenkirchen is located to the west of the Geilenkirchen town of Teveren in the Teverener Heide , which was partially built over for him, and directly on the border with the Netherlands . It is surrounded by a wooded nature reserve and farmland. The city of Geilenkirchen itself is about six kilometers to the east. Known to the local population as Teveren Airfield, the facility extends over an area of 620 hectares. The larger half is in the Geilenkirchen area, the slightly smaller half belongs to Gangelt .
RAF Geilenkirchen
With the beginning of the Cold War it was clear that the British Air Force of Occupation , which had been stationed in northwest Germany as an occupying power since 1945 , would remain stationed in the Federal Republic for a longer period of time. The Royal Air Force was based in the first years after the war in several mostly former airbases of the former Air Force , some of which are only a few minutes flying time from the " Iron Curtain " were removed.
It was decided to station the aircraft in the British sector as far away as possible from the inner-German border . Therefore, the airfield was built by the RAF in the early 1950s and opened in 1953. In May 1955, two squadrons were converted to Hunter F4 . Until 1968, the facility was used by RAF Germany as a base for initially day interceptors and later all-weather interceptors. Most recently, a squadron of Lightning , the RAF's first Mach 2 capable fighter, lay here . In January 1968 flight operations in Geilenkirchen were stopped.
Use by the German Air Force
In March 1968 the airfield was handed over to the German Air Force . In August 1968, it became the location of the Air Force's missile squadron 2, which was equipped with Pershing I / IA missiles , and the 85th US Army Field Artillery Detachment, which was affiliated with the support . In 1981 the missile squadron cleared the airfield in Teveren and relocated to the Selfkant barracks in Geilenkirchen Niederheid. The associated nuclear stockpile was just north of Air Base 50 ° 58 '19 " N , 6 ° 3' 15" O . The nuclear warheads for the missile squadron (FKG) 2 stationed in Teveren and later in Niederheid were stored here. In 1991 the missile squadron was disbanded and the special ammunition store was closed.
NATO Air Base
After the decision by NATO to set up the NATO early warning fleet and to make Geilenkirchen airfield the main base of operations for the E-3A association, extensive construction work was initiated in 1980 in order to set up suitable deployment and support facilities for housing the E-3A association to provide.
In January 1980, the first E-3A staff arrived at the airfield. In October 1980 the Defense Planning Committee of NATO recognized the E-3A federation as an international military headquarters. By the end of 1981 the German missile squadron had left the airfield and was relocated to the Selfkant barracks in Niederheid, in the north of Geilenkirchen. The 85th US Army Field Artillery Detachment remained at the airfield until it was disbanded in July 1991. The most important construction works on the airfield initially included a new 3000 m (10,000 feet) long and 45 m (150 feet) wide runway, new aprons and taxiways, a new control tower, a new Information Technology Wing building (in which also the flight simulators and mission simulators are housed), accommodation building, and extensive renovation work on the four existing aircraft hangars. In the meantime, most of the buildings on the airfield have been renovated or redesigned according to today's standards. In addition, some new buildings were built.
The first of 18 AWACS machines was handed over to NATO on January 25, 1982 in Oberpfaffenhofen . The flight operations of the E-3A association began in February 1982 after the delivery of the first E3A machine AWACS . On March 31, 1982, the Federal Republic of Germany officially handed over the main operational airfield to NATO. The E-3A association was officially put into service on June 28, 1982 and reached full operational capability at the end of 1988. The flying command posts could thus monitor the air space far into the alliance area of the Warsaw Pact .
In 2015, the 'Force Command', the higher-level command post for the two AWACS associations in Geilenkirchen and Waddington (GB), moved from Mons, Belgium, to the Geilenkirchen base. This upgraded the Geilenkirchen location to the NATO headquarters, AWACS HQ.
NATO E-3A association
The E-3A association is the first and only multinational airborne association of NATO and thus unique in military history. The position of the association commander (component commander) is taken in rotation by a brigadier general of the German or the US air force. The E-3A federation is divided into five main functional areas: Operations Wing (flying group), Logistics Wing (technical group), Base Support Wing (operational support group), Training Wing (training group) and Information Technology Wing (IT group); there are also the usual staff departments. Each group is led by a colonel from a particular NATO member state.
The personnel of this multinational integrated unit comprises more than 3,000 soldiers and civil servants from 16 NATO member states. This also includes military and civilian employees in support functions, e.g. B. in the on-site service teams of the Bundeswehr service center, the national support units and the social care facilities (MWA).
Aircraft of the E-3A association
The first E-3A machines, also known as NE-3A (N for NATO), came into service at the NATO Air Base in Geilenkirchen from February 24, 1982, previously in the USA since March 1977. The aircraft for NATO were equipped at the Dornier works in Oberpfaffenhofen and later also looked after. Today the technical support of the NATO aircraft takes place in the Manching plant of the Airbus Group . An ESM system has also been retrofitted here in recent years , recognizable by the two antenna bulges on the left and right of the front fuselage.
The contract for the operation of the AWACS lies with the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Program Management Organization ( NAPMO ), which is responsible for the planning, implementation and administration of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Program (NAEW & C ) responsible for. It reports directly to the North Atlantic Council based at NATO headquarters in Brussels (SHAPE).
The systems are used by various NATO countries and NATO itself. NATO's own aircraft have a Luxembourg aircraft registration number and are stationed at Geilenkirchen Air Base near Aachen. The RAF flies from the Waddington base on behalf of NATO . In addition, until November 2011 there were still three training machines without antenna, so-called TCA (Trainer and Cargo Aircraft) at the base in Geilenkirchen. During the Cold War, the system served as an early warning of low-flying Warsaw Pact aircraft .
In June 2007 NATO celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Geilenkirchen base with an open day and a special paint job for an E-3A machine.
The E-3A Association originally had eighteen E-3A AWACS aircraft and three training / transport aircraft (Trainer Cargo Aircraft - TCA), all of which were converted Boeing 707 aircraft. As part of Luxembourg's contribution to the NATO AWACS program, all aircraft belonging to the NATO E-3A federation have been registered in Luxembourg . After the start-up accident of an E-3A on July 14, 1996 in Aktio (Greece), the decommissioning of the TCA in 2010 and an E-3A at the end of June 2015, the association now still has 16 E-3A members. As of 2018 14 aircraft.
Since their commissioning in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their on-board systems as well as the associated ground systems have been regularly modernized. Two major modernization programs have been carried out since the early 1990s. The most recent medium-term modernization program (NMT program) was completed in December 2008. As part of this program, which included the modernization of the navigation system, digital communication systems, five additional operator consoles and other modernization measures, 17 E-3A aircraft and two mission simulators were converted. Thanks to these modernization efforts, NATO AWACS aircraft will continue to play a key role in conducting NATO operations. The current modernization, which should be completed in 2018, will only receive 14 E-3As, the remaining three have been mothballed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base .
The three E-3A squadrons of the E-3A federation have thirty multinational crews, whose members are provided by 13 of the 28 NATO member states: Belgium , Denmark , Germany , Greece , Italy , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Spain , Turkey , Hungary and the United States . There is also the Aircrew Training Squadron (training squadron for aircraft crews), which belongs to the Training Wing and is also multinational.
Normally only some of the E-3A machines are located at the NATO airfield Geilenkirchen; the rest have been moved to the forward operating bases of the association (Forward Operating Bases / Location - FOB / FOL) or to other airfields. The FOB / FOL are located in Greece (Aktio), Italy ( Trapani ), Turkey ( Konya ) and Norway ( Ørland ). The FOB / FOL are without exception set up at the airports of the respective host country. Around 30 soldiers and civilian employees are employed at each of these locations and are subordinate to the E-3A association. They all come from the respective host countries.
Economic importance of the NATO airfield Geilenkirchen
With more than 3,000 people employed at the Geilenkirchen NATO airfield, the airfield makes a significant economic contribution to the surrounding communities in Germany and the Netherlands.
A study carried out by the NATO E-3A association (Economic Impact Study - EIS) to investigate the economic effects of the NATO airfield in Geilenkirchen shows that in 2008 an amount of 275.8 million euros was transferred to the surrounding communities (i.e. an area in Within a radius of 200 kilometers) (sum of the wages and salaries of the people employed at the airport: € 150.7 million; expenses of the airport: € 81.3 million; wages and salaries created through indirectly created jobs in the surrounding communities : € 43.8 million). Compared to 2007, this means an increase of 10.7 million euros at regional level. The overall economic contribution (for the whole of Europe and North America) amounted to 447.3 million euros in 2008, which corresponds to an increase of 22.8 million euros compared to 2007.
The Federal Republic of Germany bears the largest share of the costs of the stationing .
Protests
On both sides of the German-Dutch border there are citizens' initiatives against the air base. These do not fundamentally oppose the existence of the air base, but demand a modernization of the machines used. The engines of the E-3A and TCA were developed in the mid-1950s and are accordingly loud. In the city center of Geilenkirchen, which is directly in the approach lane, peak values of up to 100 dB (A) are measured. In addition, these outdated engines emit considerably more exhaust gases than modern engines. Landing of the civil version of the Boeing 707, which is equipped with identical engines, is no longer permitted at Western European airports because of its noise and exhaust emissions.
The installation of more modern engines would be possible, but NATO rejects this because of the high costs. Instead, NATO is considering moving the association to an Eastern European NATO member state such as Poland or Romania, which would mean a significant economic loss for the Geilenkirchen area.
Incidents
From 1953 to July 2018 there were 15 total write-offs of aircraft at Geilenkirchen airfield and in its vicinity. 6 people were killed.
- On January 13, 1999, an American Boeing KC-135E tanker of the Washington Air National Guard crashed immediately behind the runway while attempting to take off. All four occupants of the aircraft loaded with around 10,000 liters of kerosene were killed. Since the aircraft, in contrast to the civilian version Boeing 707 , had neither a flight data recorder nor a voice recorder , the investigation into the accident was difficult and it showed that the cause of the accident was an incorrect position of the trim tab of the horizontal stabilizer . However, it could not be clear whether this was due to a technical error or incorrect operation.
See also
Web links
- The E-3A Component: Main Operating Base Geilenkirchen , (English, NATO website - archive version) ( Memento from April 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Website of the citizens' initiative against aircraft noise in Geilenkirchen
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aachener Zeitung on the NATO airbase , accessed on October 12, 2010.
- ↑ Geilenkirchen is now NATO headquarters. Aachener Zeitung, accessed on December 17, 2016 .
- ↑ NATO withdraws first E-3A from service, Flightglobal, June 12, 2015 ( Memento from June 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ NATO retires second E-3A to 'boneyard', Janes, December 15, 2017
- ^ A b NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Final Comprehensive Study, Final Report May 2009, page 179, Landrum & Brown, Mestre Greve Associates, the MPD Group
- ^ NATO AWACS - Economic Impact Study . E3a.nato.int. December 31, 2008. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ↑ List of accidents at Geilenkirchen airfield , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase , accessed on July 26, 2018.
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt- Hamburg: The death flight of the air tanker. January 15, 1999, accessed on September 20, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Gillrath-Hatterath extinguishing unit. Retrieved September 20, 2019 .
- ↑ :: Gangelt Volunteer Fire Brigade ::. Retrieved September 20, 2019 .
- ↑ Georg Schmitz: The saddest chapter in the history of the airbase. In: aachener-nachrichten.de. January 12, 2009, accessed January 12, 2014 .
- ↑ John Wiley: Four Washington airmen in Crash. In: news.google.com. Eugene Register-Guard, January 15, 1999, accessed January 12, 2014 .
- ↑ Udo Stüßer: After a crash: The crew will not be forgotten in Teveren. In: aachener-nachrichten.de. Retrieved January 13, 2014 ( Paywall ).
- ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- ↑ Air Force unable to deterministic mine cause of crash. In: kitsapsun.com. June 6, 1999, archived from the original on January 12, 2014 ; accessed on January 12, 2014 .