Royal Danish Air Force

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal Danish Air Force Roundel
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.

Contents

[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.
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 1971 the danish army created the Danish Army Air Corps as the first air-unit outside the air force, since its creation in 1950 and in 1977 the Danish Naval Air Squadron was extracted from squadron 722 to the Danish Navy. 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. Despite the modifications and improvements, the Danish Air Force is considering the replacement of the 48 fighters with next generation aircraft. Contenders are Boeing's F/A-18EF Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter and Saab's Gripen. EADS' Eurofighter Typhoon withdrew from the contest on the grounds that the changes in the bidding process made the company feel that US aircraft were favored.

In 2003 16 H-500 Cayuse and 13 Eurocopter AS550C2 Fennec from the Danish Army Air Corps and 8 Westland Lynx Mk. 90B from the Danish Naval Air Squadron was supposed to be transferred to the airforce. The 17 Cayuse and 13 Fennec helicopters was transferred to the newly created Squadron 724. The 8 Lynx helicopters was supposed to enter another new squadron, Squadron 728, but for political reasons these helicopters stayed in the navy.

In 2005 the 16 Cayuses was decomissioned as well as one of the Fennecs. The remaining 12 Fennecs took over many of the tasks from the Cayuses, including support-functions of the Danish police.

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. In return, Denmark will later receive new build replacements from Agusta-Westland paid for by the British government. [1]

[edit] Organisation

Rescue-09 an AgustaWestland EH101
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.

[edit] Operations


[edit] Aircraft inventory

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service Notes
AgustaWestland EH101 Flag of Italy Italy
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
transport/rescue helicopter Merlin 8 when implemented 2007/2010:
8 helicopters delivered, 6 more on order[4]
Bombardier CL-604 Challenger Flag of Canada Canada VIP transport CL-604 3
Eurocopter AS 550 Fennec Flag of France France observation helicopter AS 550C2 11 ex-Army
Lockheed C-130 Hercules Flag of the United States United States tactical transport C-130J-30 4
Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon Flag of Belgium Belgium
Flag of the United States United States
fighter F-16AM
F-16BM
47
13
original batch of 58
license-built by SABCA,
later surplus USAF
Saab MFI-17 Supporter Flag of Sweden Sweden elementary trainer/
liaison
MFI-17 Supporter 28
Sikorsky S-61 Flag of the United States United States rescue helicopter S-61A 6 being withdrawn in 2009[5]

[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
Flag of Denmark Denmark
(Edit)
No equivalent
No equivalent
General Generalløjtnant Generalmajor Brigadegeneral Oberst Oberstløjtnant Major Kaptajn Premierløjtnant
Flyverløjtnant Løjtnant
NATO Code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
Flag of Denmark Denmark (Edit) No equivalent
Chefsergent Seniorsergent Oversergent Sergent Værnepligtig sergent (No longer in use) Korporal Flyverspecialist Flyveroverkonstabel Flyverkonstabel

[edit] References

[edit] See also