Royal Danish Air Force

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Royal Danish Air Force Roundel

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.

1 History
2 Organisation
3 Operations
4 Aircraft inventory
5 Ranks
6 References
7 See also

[edit] 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.

Danish Air Force's F-16 MLU at the Radom Air Show in 2005.

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)^[2] 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, Netherlands and Norwegian F-16 ground attack aircraft and one Netherlands 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.

[edit] Organisation

Rescue-09 an AgustaWestland EH101

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).
  - 3 (+1 later) 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

[edit] Operations

In 1999 the air force supported Operation Allied Force in Kosovo.
In 2002 and 2003 the air force provided F-16 aircraft to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
In 2004, Danish F-16 participated on NATO's Baltic Air Policing operation.

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] Aircraft inventory

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service^[4]	Notes
AgustaWestland EH101	United Kingdom	transport/rescue helicopter	Merlin	3	when implemented 2007/2008: 8 rescue and 6 transport
Bombardier Challenger 600	Canada	VIP	CL-604	3
Eurocopter Fennec	France	observation helicopter	AS550C2	12
Lockheed C-130 Hercules	United States	tactical transport	C-130J-30	3	option for a 4^th
Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon	Belgium United States	fighter	F-16AM F-16BM	48	original batch of 58 license-built by SABCA, later surplus USAF
Saab Safari	Sweden	trainer	MFI-17 Supporter	28
Sikorsky S-61	United States	rescue helicopter	S-61A	8	being withdrawn 2007

[edit] Ranks

The officer rank insignia are as follows:

NATO Code

OF-10

OF-9

OF-8

OF-7

OF-6

OF-5

OF-4

OF-3

OF-2

OF-1

OF-D-

Student Officer

Denmark
(Edit)

No equivalent

General

Generalløjtnant

Generalmajor

Brigadegeneral

Oberst

Oberstløjtnant

Major

Kaptajn

Premierløjtnant

Løjtnant

Sekondløjtnant

NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4		OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Denmark (Edit)											No equivalent
Denmark (Edit)	Chefsergent						Seniorsergent		Oversergent		No equivalent						Sergent			Værnepligtig sergent (No longer in use)			Korporal		Flyverspecialist		Flyveroverkonstabel						Flyverkonstabel