San Vito dei Normanni military airfield

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The San Vito dei Normanni military airfield was a military facility in the southern Italian region of Apulia . The airfield located between Brindisi and San Vito dei Normanni became known primarily because of a large listening station for the US armed forces .

history

The airfield was established in 1912 as a base for airships of the Italian Navy . After the First World War , the airfield also served as a commercial airfield for the city of Brindisi , which is just under ten kilometers to the east , until the airport Brindisi , which still exists today, was opened in 1933 alongside the seaplane base of the port city . After renewed military use in World War II , flight operations in San Vito dei Normanni ended completely.

In 1960 the US Air Force reactivated the airfield as San Vito dei Normanni Air Station , first as a branch of Aviano Air Base , then as a base of the US Air Force Security Service and later the United States Air Forces in Europe . By 1964, the Americans had built a Wullenweber AN / FLR-9 circular antenna system and 260 buildings for the personnel deployed here on the 160 hectare former airfield site . The circular group antenna with a diameter of around 400 meters was used for precise detection and real-time tracking of transmitters around the world, primarily in the long, medium and short wave ranges.

During the Cold War , the communications reconnaissance operated from San Vito was aimed in particular at the Warsaw Pact countries and those in the Middle East . In 1994 the company was largely stopped. After a brief reactivation due to the Kosovo war , the antenna system known as the “Colosseum” or “elephant cage” was dismantled and the base was returned to Italy in 2003. The Italian government left parts of the facility to the United Nations World Food Program , which has a logistics center at Brindisi Airport. The rest should also be used for civil purposes.

Others

Although called the military airfield San Vito dei Normanni or San Vito dei Normanni Air Station , the former airfield is not on the territory of the municipality after which it is named, but on that of the city of Brindisi.

See also

Web links

Coordinates: 40 ° 38 ′ 40 ″  N , 17 ° 50 ′ 20 ″  E