Cerklje ob Krki Airport ( sl, Letališče Cerklje ob Krki) is the only

military airport An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, and a civilian airport. The Cerklje ob Krki Air Base operates at it. The airport is in the midst of an enlargement and restructuring. Raketna baterija zračne obrambe Roland na letališču Cerklje

Raketna baterija zračne obrambe Roland na letališču Cerklje

History

The beginnings

The earliest existence of the airport in

Cerklje ob Krki Cerklje ob Krki (; german: Zirkle''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 31.grass runway created an auxiliary airfield. The military authorities of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

decided to build an airport in the location due to technical data based on favorable weather and geographical conditions. Whilst there were several airports in

at the time, only Cerklje was used strictly for military purposes. Due to this, less archival material exists to testify the airport's construction and development, though it is known to have taken place after larger facilities in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

and

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

. Permanent infrastructure was built slowly following the grass runway was established, with wooden hangars.

World War II

In 1941 the Axis forces unexpectedly attacked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the first wave took place from the air. In April War, the air forces of the axis in a few days destroyed

Army Aviation. At the airport was then housed unit 6th air patrol group of Army Aviation, which operated for the purposes of the 7th Army. Army aviation units were on combat operations very poorly equipped for combat with their opponents. On the first day of the war early in the morning, the unit lost nine aircraft and is the remaining planes, the three Breguet XIX and a Fieseler Fi-156 "Stork", presented at the airport in a hillock nearby. The German occupying forces in the Autumn of 1941 carried out further consolidation, expanded and extended the landing-runway and built three brick buildings. Construction was completed in spring 1942.

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

occupying aviation is through the act of war against the rebels in battle facts, reconnaissance and in support of land forces with a number of different units. Very important is the role of play in the German operation "Roselsprung" and landing on 25th Drvar May 1944. As an extremely strategic position was also attractive to partisans attacks by war twice in the attack, at the end of the war, however, attacked the partisan and the axis aviation. The airport was liberated 9 May 1945. In April 2013 a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

associated with the Second World War was discovered at the airport. It contained the remains of 10 victims liquidated during or after the war.

Communist era

After the Second World War, the airport was taken over by the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

. The airfield was modified only by updating the runway during the

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

riots in November 1953. That year the Yugoslav air force increased the number of aircraft and troops. At the end of the crisis, the airport remained key for defense of the northwest airspace of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. During the events of 1991, all Yugoslav units withdrew to

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. The airport has been a base for the following aircraft:

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

, Ilyushin Il-2 šturmovik,

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

F-84G 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 ...

J-20 Kraguj The Soko J-20 Kraguj (''Sparrowhawk'') is a light military, single-engine, low-wing single-seat aircraft with a metal airframe, capable of performing close air support, Counter-insurgency aircraft, counterinsurgency (COIN), and aerial reconnaiss ...

, vulture

J-21 Jastreb The Soko J-21 ''Jastreb'' ( en, Hawk), referred to as the J-1 ''Jastreb'' in some sources, is a Yugoslav single-seat, single-engine, light attack aircraft, designed by the Aeronautical Technical Institute (ATI) and Vojnotehnički Institut Beogra ...

J-22 Orao The Soko J-22 Orao ( sr-cyr, text=Oрао, translation=eagle) is a Yugoslav twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova in ...

Ten-Day War

During the summer of 1991 the deep rooted grievances that had been threatening the unity of the Federal state for some time finally came to a head when Slovenia initiated moves towards independence. At the end of June 1991 the JRViPVO was tasked with transporting soldiers and federal police to Slovenia. The Slovenes resisted this re-imposition of central control, which rapidly escalated into an armed conflict. Two air force helicopters were shot down, while the JRViPVO launched air strikes on TV transmitters and Slovenian territorial defence positions. After a political agreement, the federal forces left Slovenia and took all JRViPVO equipment with them.

Contemporary history

On 7 December 2006, the Slovenian Minister of Defence

Karl Erjavec Karl Viktor Erjavec (born 21 June 1960) is a Slovenian lawyer and politician who served in the government of Slovenia as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2018. He was the president of the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia, havi ...

and three other Slovenian ministers signed a protocol about a reconstruction and development of the airport, including the building of the facilities that would enable for a transient landing of

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 ...

aircraft. The move has been unpopular among Croatian residents, who have been concerned that the base would cause environmental and economic disruption. The renovation is part of a larger development plan of the area, named Project Phoenix, which includes the building of a civil terminal and of large business and economic areas. The airport was closed for civilian traffic from 28 January 2012 till 18 February 2012 due to bad reflections from the windows of the control tower. To fix the problem, darker blinds had been placed in the tower.

References

{{authority control Military installations of Slovenia Airports in Slovenia 1938 establishments in Yugoslavia 1938 in Slovenia