Discover

(Redirected from Danish Air Force)

The 'Royal Danish Air Force' (Danish: ''Flyvevåbnet'') is the air force of Denmark, it is an expeditionary Air Force, with capability organised to support both international operations and homeland security.

Contents

History

Organisation

Operations

Aircraft inventory

Ranks

References

See also

History

All military aviation was prohibited during the Nazi occupation, 1940-45. At V-E Day the Danish armed forces had no aircraft, but the Luftwaffe had built or expanded air bases in Denmark.

The Danish armed forces received 38 surplus Supermarine Spitfire H. F. Mk. IXE ^[1] and 3 P.R.Mk. XI in 1947-48 ^[2] which were operated by units of 'Hærens Flyvertropper' (Danish Army Air Corps) and 'Marinens Flyvevæsen' (Danish Navy Flying Service). Four additional airframes were acquired for ground instruction.
The two services were merged in 1950 to form the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) and the Spitfires continued in service until 1956 when the last serviceable examples were retired and all but two scrapped.
One survived for a number of years in a children's playground and the one surviving instructional airframe was later restored to depict the number '401' Spitfire Mk. IX. This airplane is now preserved at ''Dansk Veteranflysamling'' at Stauning Airfield in Jutland.^[3]
In the 1960s and 1970s the RDAF operated a number of US financed Lockheed F-104G Starfighters, North American F-100D and F Super Sabres and several other types. In January 1980 the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon was introduced.
In 1999 following the end of the Cold War the air force was re-organised to be an expeditionary air force, capable of supporting international operations worldwide, but at the same time still being able to honour its domestic commitments.
In 2002 Denmark joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Team, up to 48 F-35 may be bought to replace the F-16.
In October 2002 a tri-national detachment of 18 Danish, Dutch and Norwegian F-16 ground attack aircraft and one Dutch KDC-10 tanker, deployed to Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan in support of ground forces in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In 2004 the original Lockheed C-130H Hercules fleet of 3 aircraft (bought in 1973) was replaced by 3 advanced C-130Js.
In 2005 a modification program (Mid Life Update) was completed on the surviving F-16 aircraft. The modification programme started in 1995 introduces a new mission computer, color multifunction displays and other avionic improvements.
In 2006 the RDAF signed a letter of intent to purchase the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, the order is to be confirmed but is to be on the basis of a shared NATO C-17 fleet to support international deployments.
Denmark’s six transport EH101s were transferred to the British Royal Air Force in June 2007 to meet an urgent British requirement for additional transport helicopters. Denmark will later receive new build replacements from Agusta-Westland. [1]

Organisation

All Danish military aircraft have since the early sixties been registered with a pennant letter and the last three digits from the factory serial number.

★ 'Transport Wing Aalborg' based at Aalborg AB.

★
★ Eskadrille 721 (Squadron 721).

★
★
★ 4 Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules ''pennant letter 'B'''

★
★
★ 3 Canadair CL-604 Challenger ''pennant letter 'C'''

★ 'Helicopter Wing Karup' based at Karup AB.

★
★ Esk 722 (Helicopters are staged around in Denmark for Search and Rescue duties)

★
★
★ 8 Sikorsky S-61A (being replaced) ''pennant letter 'U'''

★
★
★ 14 AgustaWestland EH101 (replacing S-61) ''pennant letter 'M'''

★
★ Esk 724

★
★
★ 12 ex-Army Eurocopter AS550C2 Fennec ''pennant letter 'P'''

★
★ 'Søværnets Helikoptertjeneste' (Navy Helicopter Service)

★
★
★ 8 Westland Lynx 90 ''pennant letter 'S'''

★ 'Fighter Wing Skrydstrup' based at Skrydstrup AB.

★
★ Esk 727

★
★ Esk 730

★
★
★ Both squadrons: 48 General Dynamics F-16AM and F-16BM ''pennant letters 'E' and 'ET'''

★ 'Flyveskolen' (Flying School) based at Karup AB

★
★ 28 SAAB-MFI T-17 ''pennant letter 'T'''

Operations

★ From 1960 to 1964 RDAF S-55 helicopters flew missions for UNOC in the Congolese civil war.

★ In 1999 nine F-16 fighters flew sorties over Kosovo from Grazzanise AB, Italy as part of Operation Allied Force.

★ In 2002 and 2003 six F-16 fighter bombers flew 743 sorties against Taliban og al-Qaeda in Afghanistan from Ganci AB, Kyrgyzstan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

★ From July to October 2004, four F-16 fighters in Šiauliai, Lithuania, was Denmark's contribution to NATO's Operation Baltic Air Policing.

Aircraft inventory

! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|In service
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Notes
|-----
| AgustaWestland EH101 || || transport/rescue helicopter || Merlin || 3 || when implemented 2007/2010:
8 rescue and 6 transport
|-----
| Bombardier Challenger 600 || || VIP || CL-604 || 3 ||
|-----
| Eurocopter Fennec || || observation helicopter || AS550C2 || 12 || ex-Army
|-----
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules || || tactical transport || C-130J-30 || 4 ||
|-----
| Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon ||
|| fighter || F-16AM
F-16BM || 48 || original batch of 58
license-built by SABCA,
later surplus USAF
|-----
| Saab Safari || || elementary trainer/
liaison || MFI-17 Supporter || 28 ||
|-----
| Sikorsky S-61 || || rescue helicopter || S-61A || 8 || being withdrawn 2007
|}

Ranks

The officer rank insignia are as follows:

References

1. http://www.flv.dk/galleri.asp?mode=viser&id=483
2. http://www.flv.dk/galleri.asp?mode=viser&id=482
3. http://www.flymuseum.dk/fly/flytekst/spitfire.php

See also

★ Military of Denmark

★ NATO

★ Scandinavian defence union