Leeuwarden Air Base ( nl, Vliegbasis Leeuwarden) is a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - nl, Koninklijke Luchtmacht (''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 Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...

. Leeuwarden Air Base is also one of the three military airbases (together with

Gilze-Rijen Air Base Gilze-Rijen Air Base ( nl, Vliegbasis Gilze-Rijen, ) is a military base, military military airbase, airbase in the south of Netherlands. It is located between the cities of Breda and Tilburg, which are both in North Brabant. The airport is mainly, ...

and Volkel Air Base) that 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.

History

The airport of Leeuwarden was built in 1938, and was used as an airport between

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

and

Eelde Eelde () is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Tynaarlo, and lies about 9 km south of Groningen. Groningen Airport Eelde is located near the village. Eelde was a separate municipality until 1998, when ...

. The airport was used only infrequently at first, but that changed after the Germans invaded the Low Countries in 1940. 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 ...

used the airport as a base for their fighter aircraft (including the Messerschmitt Bf 109) and

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s. From the airbase the Germans could reach

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and especially on the 16th and 17 September 1944, the airbase was heavily bombed by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. 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 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

ran a commercial line to Schiphol. In 1949, Leeuwarden became a dedicated military airbase. During the 1970s Vliegbasis Leeuwarden was used as a temporary home of the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

. Normally stationed at Soesterberg airbase, they needed to move temporarily in order to allow repairs to the runway. Two F-16 squadrons were based at Leeuwarden Air Base: the "swing-role"

322 Squadron RNLAF The No. 322 Squadron, being the oldest operational squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, was founded at RAF Woodvale on 12 June 1943 as No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron with Dutch personnel under Royal Air Force control. At the end of the war ''32 ...

and the Tactical Training Evaluation and Standardisation (TACTES) 323 Squadron RNLAF. 323 Squadron stood down as an F-16 Squadron on October 31, 2014 (passing the TACTES task to 322 Squadron on the same day) before being reinstated as the F-35A Test Squadron on November 5, 2014 at Eglin Air Force Base. In addition, Leeuwarden Air Base was the home base of

303 Squadron RNLAF 303 Search and Rescue (SAR) Squadron was a search and rescue unit of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Since its inception in 1959, it carried more than 4,100 emergency and life-saving flights. The Royal Netherlands Air Force decided in 1959 to crea ...

(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 January 1, 2015.

Role and operations

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon

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 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

, 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 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 ...

exercise " Frisian Flag". On March 31, 2015, six F-15C's from the

125th Fighter Wing The 125th Fighter Wing (125 FW) is a unit of the Florida Air National Guard, stationed at Jacksonville Air National Guard Base, Florida. If activated to federal service with the United States Air Force, the 125 FW is operationally gained by the A ...

of the

Florida Air National Guard The Florida Air National Guard (FL ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Florida. It is, along with the Florida Army National Guard (FL ARNG), an element of the Florida National Guard. It is also an element of the Air National Guard (ANG ...

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. 920 Squadron – Maintenance *No. 921 Squadron – Logistics *No. 922 Squadron – Base operations

References

External links

Vliegbasis Leeuwarden - official website
(

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...