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Leeuwarden Air Base

Military airport in Friesland, Netherlands

Summary

Military airport in Friesland, Netherlands

Field	Value
name	Leeuwarden Air Base
ensign	File:Flag of the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force.svg
ensign_size	90px
native_name	Vliegbasis Leeuwarden
partof
location	Leeuwarden, Friesland
nearest_town
country	Netherlands
image	File:VliegbasisLeeuwarden-NOV2018.jpg
caption	An aerial view of Leeuwarden Air Base during 2018
image2	[[File:Coat of Arms Royal Netherlands Air Force Leeuwarden Air Base.svg	175px]]
caption2	Motto
type	Military airfield
coordinates
pushpin_map	Netherlands
pushpin_map_caption	Location in the Netherlands
pushpin_label	Leeuwarden
ownership	Ministry of Defence
operator	Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF)
controlledby
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
code
built	(as civil airport)
used	1949 – present
height
length
fate
condition	Operational
events	Exercise Frisian Flag (annual)
current_commander
past_commanders
garrison
occupants
IATA	LWR
ICAO	EHLW
WMO	062700
elevation	0.91 m
r1-number	05/23
r1-length	2452.1 m
r1-surface	Asphalt
r2-number	09/27
r2-length	1999.7 m
r2-surface	Asphalt
h1-length
airfield_other_label
airfield_other
footnotes	Source: Military Aeronautical Information Publication Netherlands

Leeuwarden Air Base () is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - (KLu), . The airbase was formerly one of the two F-16 Fighting Falcon bases of the RNLAF. The airbase lies northwest of the capital of Friesland, Leeuwarden.

Leeuwarden Air Base is also one of the three military airbases (together with Gilze-Rijen Air Base and Volkel Air Base) that used to organise the twice-in-three-years Luchtmachtdagen ('Air Force Days') of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, consisting of air shows and static exhibits. In 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2016 Leeuwarden Air Base hosted these public demonstration days.

Since Covid, the Luchtmachtdagen have not been held, and the demonstration flights of the F-16 and AH-64 Apache have also been halted.

History

The airport of Leeuwarden was built in 1938, and was used as an airport between Schiphol and Eelde. The airport was used only infrequently at first, but that changed after the Germans invaded the Low Countries in 1940. The Luftwaffe used the airport as a base for their fighter aircraft (including the Messerschmitt Bf 109) and bombers. From the airbase the Germans could reach Great Britain. During World War II, and especially on the 16th and 17 September 1944, the airbase was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force.

After the liberation of the Netherlands the airbase was repaired, and during the first post-war years it was used as a civil airport, and KLM ran a commercial line to Schiphol. In 1949, Leeuwarden became a dedicated military airbase.

Two F-16 squadrons were based at Leeuwarden Air Base: the "swing-role" 322 Squadron RNLAF and the Tactical Training Evaluation and Standardisation (TACTES) 323 Squadron RNLAF. 323 Squadron stood down as an F-16 Squadron on 31 October 2014 (passing the TACTES task to 322 Squadron on the same day) before being reinstated as the F-35A Test Squadron on 5 November 2014 at Eglin Air Force Base.

In addition, Leeuwarden Air Base was the home base of 303 Squadron RNLAF (Search and Rescue), part of the newly formed Defence Helicopter Command (DHC). It employed three Agusta Bell AB 412SP helicopters before its stand-down on 1 January 2015.

Role and operations

A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 "J-135". Note the depiction of the Frisian flag and the 322 Squadron mascot Polley Grey on the tail.

Leeuwarden Air Base was one of two Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon bases, which are being replaced by F-35A Lightning II, the first of which arrived at Leeuwarden on 31 October 2019.

The base is the location of the Fighter Weapons Instructor Training (FWIT) and the annual multinational NATO exercise "Frisian Flag". On 31 March 2015 six F-15Cs from the 125th Fighter Wing of the Florida Air National Guard landed at Leeuwarden Air Base to take part in Frisian Flag 2015.

Four MQ-9 Reapers with a Ground Station will be fully air-deployable and self-supporting for global operations will be based at Leeuwarden from 2020. Future use by public services related to homeland security and surveillance (including the National Police; and customs, naval and environmental surveillance) is also planned.

Based units

Units based at Leeuwarden.

Royal Netherlands Air Force

No. 306 Squadron – MQ-9A Reaper
No. 322 Squadron – F-35A Lightning
No. 323 Squadron - Air Combat Development Centre
No. 920 Squadron – Maintenance
No. 921 Squadron – Logistics
No. 922 Squadron – Base operations

References

Defensie, Ministerie van. (2018-01-15). "MilAIP: information for the aviation sector - Defensie.nl".
"Google Maps".
(9 February 2018). "Vliegbasis Leeuwarden". Koninklijke Luchtmacht.
(27 March 2015). "The U.S. Air Force is deploying 12 F-15 jets to Europe as first Air National Guard theater security package". theaviationist.com.
(17 January 2019). "First Dutch Crews Fly MQ-9 Reaper".
(9 February 2018). "Squadrons Vliegbasis Leeuwarden". Koninklijke Luchtmacht.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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