Saab AR 35 Draken AR-112 - Flyvestation Karup

Air Base Karup is the main air base of the

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force ( da, Flyvevåbnet, lit=The Flying weapon) (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of The Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Defence. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was ...

. It is situated within

Midtjyllands Airport Midtjyllands Airport ( da, Midtjyllands Lufthavn) , formerly known as Karup Airport, is an airport in Denmark. The airport is situated 3 km west of the town of Karup and carries passengers primarily from nine municipalities in mid- and west ...

, 3 km west of

Karup Karup is a town in Viborg Municipality, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , su ...

in mid-

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. The air base covers 3000 hectares of land of which only a third is inside the operational area marked by a 17 km long fence.

History

The Royal Air Force in Denmark Following the Liberation, 1945 CL3297

The air base was constructed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

during the

German Occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

in 1940 under the name "Einsatzhafen Grove" (later ''Flieger-Horst Grove'') to facilitate offensive operations against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Later in the war, it became a base for defensive fighter planes. Following the British advance into Denmark in May 1945, during which the airfield was surrendered to Captain Eric Brown RN of the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

(RAE), a group of nine Arado Ar 234B reconnaissance bombers were found at the base and subsequently transferred by Brown and his colleagues to

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

.http://www.airmen.dk/pdfs/amAirbaseKarup.pdf By December 1945 the air base was taken over by the Danish Civil Air Defence, which used it as a refugee camp for 22,000 German refugees. Control over the area was transferred to the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

in January 1946, continuing the use as refugee camp until 1949. In 1947 the

Danish Army Air Corps Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

established a flying school, maintenance centre and logistics office at Karup, preparing for

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

and

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

military aircraft. When the

(RDAF) was established in 1950, the area was named Air Base Karup. During the post-war years, Karup Air Base became a central part of Denmark's

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

defence plan and played a major role in the establishment of the RDAF. In 1955 the Tactical Air Command was placed at Karup. Several American produced planes were stationed at the base in the 1950s and 1960s, among them the

Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

Republic F-84 Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thu ...

, RF-84F and

F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of ...

. In 1970 the RDAF purchased two squadrons of Swedish

Saab 35 Draken The Saab 35 Draken (; 'The Kite' or 'The Dragon') is a Swedish fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken started in 1948 as the Swedish air fo ...

strike fighters and stationed them at Karup. During the 1980s and 1990s several smaller units in the Royal Danish Air Force moved from

Værløse Air Base Værløse Air Base ( Danish: Flyvestation Værløse) is a former Royal Danish Air Force air base located just south of Værløse, Furesø Municipality, 20 kilometres northwest of central Copenhagen, Denmark. Its ICAO code is EKVL. History Fou ...

near

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and Vandel Air Base in southern Jutland to Karup Air Base. In 1993 the Army Operational Command was placed at the air base.

Wings and units

The air base is home to the following units under the Royal Danish Air Force: *

Helicopter Wing Karup A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

RDAF Flying School The Royal Danish Air Force ( da, Flyvevåbnet, lit=The Flying weapon) (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of The Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Defence. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was ...

* RDAF Air Control Wing * Combat Support Wing * RDAF Specialist School * RDAF Training Centre * Expeditionary Air Staff * Operation Support Wing Further, the operational commands of the Royal Danish Army and the RDAF is situated at the base.

Civilian companies

The arms and technology company Danish Aerotech has its facilities in the air base area. It produces and maintains aeroplanes and missiles.

References

{{Coord, 56.2795, N, 9.1203, E, source:wikidata, display=title Military installations of Denmark Royal Danish Air Force Military installations established in 1950