Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74
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Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 (74th Tactical Air Force Wing), formerly known as Jagdgeschwader 74 (JG 74) (74th Fighter Wing), is an aviation unit of the German Air Force, based on Neuburg Air Base in
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
since 1961. On 1 October 2013, the unit was renamed in the course of adaptations to the new structure of the German Air Force. JG 74 provides air defence duties for southern Germany. The wing operates two squadrons of
Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...
s, the ''Falken'' (Falcons) squadron and the ''Viva Zapata'' squadron.


History

JG 74 was activated as the last
West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
fighter wing on 5 May 1961. It was equipped with the F-86K Sabre interceptor and first based at
Leipheim Leipheim is a town in the district of Günzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Danube, west of Günzburg, and northeast of Ulm. The village Riedheim and the hamlet Weissingen are districts of Leipheim. Since 1993, Leipheim has bee ...
in 1960 as ''JG 75''. It moved to Neuburg Air Base a short time later after this base had been opened and was renamed JG 74. In the period from 1964/66 JG 74 received the
F-104G Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of ...
. The Starfighter proved to be a troublesome aircraft for the Luftwaffe, which lost 292 of 916 Starfighters, 116 pilots died. JG 74 also lost several of them until the wing converted to the F-4F Phantom II in 1974. The F-4F was a downgraded F-4E which could not fire the medium range AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile. The use was forbidden until Germany became fully sovereign in 1990. Since then the F-4Fs were upgraded to F-4F ICE standard in the 1990s and were finally equipped to use the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. Due to the smoke generated by the F-4's
General Electric J79 The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under li ...
engines, the German pilots dubbed the F-4F the "Air Defence Diesel". The last of the F-4Fs was retired on 12 June 2008. From 2006 to June 2008 JG 74 transitioned to the
Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...
.


Mölders

32 years after the crash and death of the German
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 ...
fighter ace
Werner Mölders Werner Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot, wing commander, and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. He became the first pilot in aviation history to shoot down 10 ...
, JG 74 received the honorary name of "JG 74 Mölders" on 22 November 1973. However, the German parliament decided in 1998 that it is not proper to name organizations after people who were active in the
Legion Condor The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
. The German Military History Institute researched Mölders conduct and concluded that he concurred in his actions with the
Nazi government The government of Nazi Germany was totalitarian, run by the Nazi Party in Germany according to the Führerprinzip through the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany began with the fact that the Enabling Act was enacted to give Hitler's gover ...
, and never opposed any actions taken by the Nazis. Therefore, the name "Mölders" was dropped by JG 74 on 11 June 2005. :de:Werner Mölders


Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F027408-0001, Flugzeug F-86 K Sabre des JG 74.jpg, An F-86K ''Sabre'' of JG 74. File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F027408-0008, Flugzeug F-104 Starfighter, JG 74.jpg, F-104G ''Starfighter''. File:F-4Fs JG74 1998.JPEG, Two JG 74 F-4Fs in 1998. File:2 Eurofighter - Manching 2006.jpg, Two JG 74 Eurofighters. File:Gemälde der Jagdgeschwader 74.jpg, Jagdflugzeuge-Gemälde vom Jagdgeschwader 74


References


External links


Official homepage of JG 74
{{Authority control Jagdgeschwader 074 Military units and formations established in 1961 1961 establishments in West Germany Neuburg an der Donau