Kleine Brogel Air Base

Kleine Brogel Air Base
(Advanced Landing Ground B-76)

A Belgian F-16AM fighter jet taking off from the Kleine Brogel Air Base in September 2009.
IATA: none – ICAO: EBBL
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Belgian Air Component
Location Kleine Brogel, Belgium
Elevation AMSL 200 ft / 61 m
Coordinates 51°10′09″N 005°28′14″E / 51.16917°N 5.47056°E / 51.16917; 5.47056Coordinates: 51°10′09″N 005°28′14″E / 51.16917°N 5.47056°E / 51.16917; 5.47056
Map
EBBL

Location of Kleine Brogel Air Base

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
05L/23R 3,096 10,158 Asphalt
05R/23L 2,400 7,874 Asphalt

Kleine Brogel Air Base (ICAO: EBBL) is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located in Kleine Brogel, in the municipality Peer, Belgium. It is home to the Belgian 10th Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons, which are capable, among other capabilities, of delivering B61 nuclear bombs.

History

The base has been subject to much political controversy, because of American nuclear weapons allegedly being stored in the facility by the United States Air Force (USAF), but never recognized officially by the Belgian government.[1] Under the NATO nuclear sharing arrangement, these nuclear bombs would require an actual dual key system, which would imply the simultaneous authorizations of Belgium and the United States, before any action is taken. Should that be the case, Kleine Brogel Air Base would be the only location in Belgium with nuclear weapons.[2][3] According to the press, Eastern European member states of NATO have resisted the withdrawal of the shared nuclear bombs from Europe, fearing it would show a weakening of American commitment to defend the European Union against Russian aggression.[4]

None of the five NATO member states, whose air forces allegedly might share in its premises nuclear bombs with the USAF (these are Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey),[4] have ever provided an official confirmation of its existence. However, former Italian President Francesco Cossiga declared that the Aeronautica Militare hosted or shared American nuclear bombs, just as other NATO member states do. In an interview he talked about French weapons.[5][6] In the same way, on 10 June 2013, former Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed the existence of 22 shared nuclear bombs at Volkel Air Base.[7]

Kleine Brogel Air Base is also the home of the United States Air Force's 7361 Munitions Support Squadron which allegedly is the unit in charge of looking after the shared nuclear bombs.[8][9]

AFN Benelux broadcast from Kleine Brogel Air Base in the 106.2 MHz in FM.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dossier: Kleine Brogel".
  2. ↑ Malcolm Chalmers and Simon Lunn (March 2010), NATO’s Tactical Nuclear Dilemma, Royal United Services Institute, retrieved 2010-03-16.
  3. ↑ Der Spiegel: Foreign Minister Wants US Nukes out of Germany (2009-04-10)
  4. 1 2 Borger, Julian (21 April 2013). "Obama accused of nuclear U-turn as guided weapons plan emerges". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "US nuclear bombs 'based in Netherlands' - ex-Dutch PM Lubbers". BBC. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑
  10. ↑

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kleine Brogel Air Base.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.