A short history of Flyvevåbnet -the Royal Danish Air Force

(from the FTK website www.ftk.dk)

Introduction

At the close of the Second World War the time was right for a fundamental re-appraisal of Danish defence policy and a reorganisation of the Danish Defence Forces. Even before the war, most countries had already established an independent branch of the armed services, whose primary task was air defence. This backdrop, accentuated by the lessons of WWII, gave rise to a broad consensus of opinion in favour of organising Danish military aviation in a similar, independent branch of the Armed Services.
The Office of Military Aviation Affairs, headed by Lt. Col. Kaj Birksted was set up on the 31st July 1945. Birksted had served during WWII in the Norwegian squadrons of the Royal Air Force in England. He was the Commanding Officer a Spitfire wing in the closing months of the war, with the rank of Wing Commander. On 1st December 1945, the Military Aviation Committee, under the chairmanship of Birksted and representing the Army Air Corps and the Navy Air Service, superseded the Office of Military Aviation Affairs. It was the work of this committee that culminated in the founding of the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) five years later.

1950 - 1960
The Founding of the Air Force
The Danish Legislature passed a Bill governing the "Centralised Leadership of the Defence Forces," on the 27th May 1950. Law No. 242 amalgamated the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Naval Affairs into a single Ministry of Defence and decreed the establishment of the Royal Danish Air Force with effect from the 1st October 1950.
This propitious development was in large degree due to the fact that Denmark had become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 1949. Membership imposed new obligations on the Defence Forces generally and more specifically, on the air defence of Denmark. NATO was thus a contributory factor in highlighting the need for an arm of the services whose special responsibility would be the control of Danish airspace.
Genesis
The nucleus of the new Air Force was a medley of Army Air Corps and Naval Air Service personnel - 1,400 in all and an assortment of 180 aircraft. The complement of aircraft consisted of 24 Gloster Meteor F.Mk IV's and 13 other types. The initial objective was to establish eight fighter squadrons and two squadrons with specific assignments in the transport and search and rescue roles.
Air Stations Værløse and Karup were already operational defence installations at the time of the founding of the RDAF. Several other designated air stations however, were still administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the fullness of time, they too were handed over to the Air Force and the work of extending runways and taxiways, of building the air traffic control facilities, the workshops, the offices and the living quarters for the permanent staff and the national service contingents was embarked upon.
The initial organisation of the Air Force was dictated by geographical considerations. It consisted of an Air Force Headquarters with two subordinate headquarters, one on each side of the Great Belt. These were designated Air Command East (ACE) and Air Command West (ACW). ACE had Air Stations Copenhagen, Værløse and Avnø under its command, while ACW had operational control of Air Stations Aalborg, Karup, Skrydstrup, Tirstrup and Vandel. Existing Army Air Corps squadrons and Naval air flotillas were transferred to the Air Force and re-designated, with effect from January 1951, as Squadrons 721, 722, 723, 724 and 725. The designated numbers were in accordance with the standard numbering procedures applicable for NATO aircraft squadrons. Between 1952 and 1954, new Squadrons were formed and numbered consecutively from 726 to 730. The Photo Reconnaissance Flight (PR/FR), a so-called half-squadron was formed in 1955. It was later enlarged and given squadron status in 1960, when it was re-designated Squadron 729.

The First Aircraft
The newly formed Air Force was initially equipped with the British Spitfire, the Firefly and the Gloster Meteor, all of which were purchased with national funds. 30 Hawker Hunter jet fighters, British aircraft specifically designed and built for the air defence role were purchased in 1956. These air defence fighters slotted perfectly into the doctrine upon which the Royal Danish Air Force had been based. At about the same time, 284 F-84E/G Thunderjets were received as Military Aid from the United States of America, along with a number of Catalinas. The latter, long-distance maritime patrol aircraft, were used during the early years in Greenland and also in numerous search and rescue operations in Denmark.
Training of Air Force Personnel
The complex training requirement in the new Air Force was accorded high priority. Pilots received their basic flying training on Air Station Avnø and continuation training in the USA. Air Force technicians were also to a large extent trained in the USA under the auspices of the Military Aid Program.
In the course of a few years, the RDAF grew from 1,400 to a force of 10,000.

Flight Safety in the Early Years
The high number of flying hours combined with the limited experience of the pilots led to an increasing number of crashes, resulting in loss of life and materiel. In the five years between 1950 and 1955, the Air Force suffered 79 total write-offs with 62 fatalities.
Air Force Headquarters launched a flight-safety, training programme in 1950. Flight Safety Officers were appointed and a course of training initiated, which included participation in international flight-safety conventions and conferences, accident investigation, analyses of findings and the dissemination of relevant flight-safety information. The situation improved gradually. A contributing factor was undoubtedly the introduction of an acclimatisation course for newly qualified pilots returning from the USA to the rigours of Danish weather. Acclimatisation training was conducted locally in Training Flights equipped with a two-seat jet trainer, the T-33A Silver Star.
A very significant element in improving flight safety and in the impending reorganisation of the Air Force was the secondment to the Air Staff in 1954 of the highly qualified war veteran, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Saunders, RAF.

Reorganisation of the Air Force
The Air Force was reorganised in 1955. The old structure was discarded and replaced with three branch headquarters, i.e., Tactical Air Command Denmark, Air Material Command and Training Command. The new organisation ensured a direct chain of command in operations, logistics and training. The Air Stations were also reorganised along British lines, into operations, materiel and administration.
The development of a control and reporting system was an important modernisation. The radar net was "manually" co-ordinated in a central control room, giving an early warning capacity, which facilitated operational dispositions and the vectoring of air defence fighters towards intruders.
On its tenth anniversary, the RDAF comprised 10,000 personnel operating 285 aircraft. The re-organisation had created an efficient Air Force, air-minded and air-worthy.
Air Transport
Military air transport developed in leaps and bounds in the first years. With the C-54D, Squadron 721 flew over every nook and cranny of Greenland, while the C-47A was employed on domestic flights as well as flights to European and African destinations.
ESK 722, our Search and Rescue Squadron par excellence, battled its way into the hearts and minds of the Danish population.

American Aircraft
Denmark received yet another batch of Military Aid aircraft - three squadrons of F-86D Sabres - from the USA in 1958. Between 1959 and 1961, the remaining F-84G Thunderjets were replaced by a supersonic fighter-bomber, the F-100D Super Sabre.

1960 - 1970
Air Force Reductions
Ten years after the founding of the Air Force and fifteen years after the end of the Second World War, conditions in Denmark had changed. The Defence Bill of 1960 decreed cutbacks for the Air Force. The number of combat squadrons was reduced from eight and a half to seven, resulting in significant reductions in materiel and personnel.
Routine in the Cold War
The dramatic expansion of the Air Force had come to an end. Training and military exercises were assuming a recognisable routine pattern. The various training units were well established. Basic training schools were busy turning civilians into national servicemen and despatching them to the Air Stations for service as fuel-tanker operators, firemen, perimeter guards, drivers and clerical orderlies. The Air Force Constable School was churning out permanent-staff specialists while the Sergeants School and the RDAF Officers Academy trained NCO's and Officers respectively.
The Cold War was at its hottest and although the Air Force was at a high state of readiness and alert, there was a sense of routine about the situation. Constant exercises, night flying, tactical-evaluation alerts, (always at the most inconvenient time, if the participants were to be believed), were all part of daily - and nightly - life. So-called rotation of squadrons, in which Danish squadrons exchanged domicile with allied squadrons, provided the "change that was as good as a rest." It also gave Danish squadrons practice and experience in working together with the air forces of other NATO countries.

The Age of the Missile
The Soviet Union was in the midst of a massive surface-to-air (SAM) missile-development effort in the sixties. Missile batteries blossomed in profusion throughout Eastern Europe, particularly in the ground-based air-defence networks protecting airbases. In light of these developments, the Danish air defence equation was again revised and improved. The strategy of Allied reinforcement of Denmark in the event of a major crisis was being developed and it became clear that successful reinforcement operations were entirely dependent on an effective air defence capability.
SAM's joined the Air Force on the 2^nd July 1962, when the Missile Defence Group was transferred from the Army to the Air Force. All elements of the Danish air defence equation were now the direct responsibility of the RDAF.

The Arrival of the Starfighter
In 1964, the RDAF received the last batch of US Military Aid in the form of 25 single and two-seat versions of the

F-104G Starfighter. The aircraft were stationed on Ålborg in two squadrons. Later, 20 more of the same type were purchased from the Canadian forces in Europe.
Command and Control
Various factors conspired to make an upgrade of the Command and Control System necessary. The Mach. 2 Starfighter, its manoeuvrability limited by tiny wings, equipped with a limited-range radar and with likewise limited endurance, put the onus for successful interception of intruders on the Command and Control System. Precise ground controlled interception was a must. The high speeds involved made a manually operated system inadequate. In 1961, the development and building of a NATO-financed, early-warning and control system was launched. This, the NATO Air Defence Ground Environment System, became colloquially known by its acronym, NADGE. The system was based on modern computer technology enabling precise, real-time track and intercept fixes and was fully operational in 1972.

Draken
As the F-100D was fast becoming obsolete, the Air Force went to the market for a replacement in 1967. The Swedish Draken was the winner, in close competition with the French Mirage V and the American F-5E Freedom Fighter. From September 1970 to May 1971, SAAB delivered 20 F-35 Drakens to Squadron 725 on Air Station Karup. The Squadron's F-100D's were spread among the other F-100 squadrons in the Air Force. A second squadron of Draken aircraft, 20 RF-35 photo-recce variants with nose-mounted cameras and three TF-35 two-seat trainer versions were delivered to Squadron 729 on Karup. They replaced the last remaining RF-84F Thunderflashes.

1970 - 1980
More cutbacks and new aircraft
The seventies were characterised by shrinking defence budgets and personnel redundancies. The top tiers of the Defence Forces were re-organised. The individual Service Headquarters were disbanded and replaced by reduced staffs in the new Defence Headquarters, Chief of Defence Denmark (CHODDEN). In the Air Force, Training Command was disbanded, while TACDEN and Air Materiel Command were retained, but with revised areas of responsibility.
On the bright side was the acquisition of the Draken and three C-130 Hercules as replacements for the ageing C-54's. Flying Training was also rejuvenated. The venerable Chipmunk, our basic trainer on Air Station Avnø since 1950, was replaced by the Swedish SAAB SUPPORTER, T-17, in 1975/76.
The Air Force now had two combat squadrons deployed on each of the major Jutland air stations - F-104's on Ålborg, F-35 Draken's on Karup and F-100 Super Sabres on Skrydstrup, while Air Station Værløse housed the transport and SAR squadrons.
Mobile Concrete Mixers
An extensive building program was initiated on the air stations at this time. Workshops, air-traffic-control facilities, hardened aircraft shelters (HAS) - (reinforced concrete shelters for the dispersal and protection of individual aircraft), command-bunkers as well as the repair and enlargement of runways and taxiways made mobile concrete mixers a familiar sight on the various air stations.
Planned reinforcement by allied forces (mainly US) meant annual visits of varying duration. Smooth co-operation between the host unit and the visitor became a natural part of these exercises, and improved the operational efficiency of both parties.
The Decision to Acquire the F-16
For the first time in the history of Danish military aviation, a decision was made in 1975 to place an order for an aircraft, which was still at the prototype stage of development. Parliament passed legislation authorising the purchase of F-16 fighters to replace two squadrons of F.100's. The order represented the largest acquisition of military materiel ever made in this country.

1980 - 1990

Delivery of the F-16
The first F-16 delivered to the RDAF landed on Air Station Skrydstrup on the 18th.January 1980. It was piloted by Major Christian Hvidt, 727's Squadron Commander with the incumbent Chief of Defence Denmark, General Knud Jørgensen, in the back seat. The rest of the F-16's followed in quick order, and by the 1st.July 1981, the Squadron was declared operational. The F-100 had reached the end of its service, unfortunately marred in the final years by a number of accidents, several of which resulted in fatalities. Squadron 727 was the first to be equipped with the new multi-role aircraft - a tremendous air-superiority and ground-attack fighter.
The first order was for 58 aircraft. A further 12 were purchased under the Defence Bill of 1984 and later, a number of second-hand USAF aircraft - attrition replacements - were purchased. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is the only fighter at present in service with the RDAF. 69 aircraft are deployed in four squadrons, two on Air Station Aalborg and two on Air Station Skrydstrup.

Hawk and Stinger
Besides the four F-16 squadrons, Danish air defence comprises a Command and Control System of:
· Six radar stations and associated command and control facilities.
· Eight Hawk squadrons - ground-based surface-to-air missile defence.
· Anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), soon to be replaced by six STINGER squadrons -ground-based surface-to-air missile defence.
1990 - the Present

Defence re-organisation in 1991 led to the disbandment of the Service Staffs in CHODDEN. Responsibility for the administration of the Navy, the Army and the Air Force was transferred to the Operational Headquarters of the individual Service. Besides being the Operational HQ of the Air Force, TACDEN now assumed overall responsibility for the administration and training of Air Force units and personnel, as well as responsibility for the economics and logistics of the Service.
The Peace Dividend
Because of the changed world situation, the powers-that-be in many member nations of the western alliance have cashed in on the so-called peace dividend. One consequence of this is the demise of the reinforcement agreements Denmark has had with the USA among others. The strategic military dumps have been emptied and the materiel shipped home. The facilities are now used for other purposes. NATO's transition to a new force- and command structure has had consequences for the RDAF. Partnership for Peace (PfP) and co-operation with the Baltic States requires increased flexibility and as always, new friends create new demands and generate new incentives.

Phased Out and Disbanded
The F-35 Draken was phased out of service in the early '90's and the squadrons on Air Station Karup were disbanded. The Flying School was transferred from Avnø to Karup. Avnø, that venerable institution in Danish military flying is now history. Nevertheless, in its new location and true to its traditions the School continues to introduce candidates from all three Services to Danish military flying. RDAF Station Tirstrup was de-commissioned in the middle of the '90's.

New Tasks
The disbandment of the reconnaissance squadron prompted the development of a new and ingenious replacement. Recce tasks requiring photographic coverage are now executed by the F-16 with the aid of a newly developed sensor pod mounted for the specific mission.
With The Danish International Brigade in mind, the Air Force has developed and built a MEDEVAC (medical evacuation) container for the transport and en route treatment of the sick and the wounded. The container is custom built for the C-130 Hercules into which it can quickly be loaded, and provides doctors and nurses with the ideal conditions for continued treatment of casualties while under way.
Self-protection systems for the C-130 Hercules have been developed and are operational. Air Materiel Command, in close co-operation with Therma Elektronik-Aarhus and Per Udsen-Grenaa developed the protection and photographic equipment for the package.

F-16 Mid-Life Update
The F-16 is currently undergoing a so-called MLU - Mid-Life Update. The aircraft and its systems are being renovated and fully upgraded. The upgrade is expected to extend the operational life of the system as a whole by 10 to 15 years. The HAWK system is likewise being modernised and the STINGER system is being introduced into service.
New Command and Control System
Air Defence Forces are employed to best advantage on the principles of centralised command and de-centralised execution. Information technology has made it possible to realise this principle by integrating all elements of the air defence equation into one system. This system, the NATO Command and Control System (ACCS) will have far-reaching effects on the Danish command and control system of the future. Information technology has already revolutionised significant elements of the management and administration of the Air Force as a whole.

New SAR Helicopters
Our Search and Rescue Squadron, 722, is a by-word in Danish homes. Over the years, the Squadron has carried out innumerable search and rescue operations and, in recent years, an increasing number of "Samaritan" missions, i.e. the transport of patients from one hospital to another. The instrument of the Squadron's successes over the decades, the S-61A Sea King helicopter, is reaching the end of its tether. The Air Force is at present investigating the market for its replacement.
New Transport Aircraft and Environmental Monitoring
With its three C-130H Hercules, the transport squadron carries out many and varied missions in Europe and in Greenland. It regularly supplies Station Nord, which because of the ice barrier is dependent on air supply. The Gulfstream III is permanently assigned to fisheries inspection around the Faeroes and in Greenland and increasingly in recent years to environmental monitoring of Danish coastal waters. Oil detection equipment, which will improve the likelihood of verifying an actual incident and identifying the perpetrator, is on order. This equipment will dramatically improve environmental policing and make it difficult for perpetrators to deny responsibility.
The latest acquisition is a Challenger CL-604 for Squadron 721 - a replacement for a Gulfstream, which crashed in the Faeroe Islands.

New Assignments in NATO
Since the 1st.January 1996, an F-16 Squadron has been earmarked for service with NATO's Immediate Reaction Forces and a HAWK Squadron for NATO's Inter- Regional Relief Forces. Detailed Contingency Planning for both squadrons is complete and the logistic backup is in place. Both squadrons participated in Exercise Dynamic Mix by deploying to Amendola in Southern Italy and completing their assignments from the air base there. Personnel gained valuable knowledge and skills in deploying to the south of Europe and in the conduct of operations from foreign bases, an experience, which will be of benefit not only to the squadrons concerned, but also to the Air Force as a whole.
Between the 13th.October and the 8th.November 1998, six F-16's from Squadron 730 stationed on Skrydstrup, deployed to Italy as part of the NATO Immediate Reaction Forces and participated in Operation Allied Force.

FLYVEVÅBNET TODAY – 2008

FLYVERTAKTISK KOMMANDO-FTK (FSN KARUP)

AIR TRANSPORT WING AALBORG

ESKADRILLE 721

TRP-FLT: C-130J-30 SURV-FLT: CL-604 STN-FLT: T-17

HELICOPTER WING KARUP

ESKADRILLE 722

S-61A-5 EH.101 Mk.512

ESKADRILLE 724

AS.350L

SØVÆRNETS HELIKOPTER TJENESTE

LYNX MK.90B SØVÆRNET -Droneelementet

Banshee 400/500

FLYVESKOLEN

T-17

FIGHTER WING SKRYDSTRUP

727 FIGHTER SQD

F-16AM F-16BM

730 FIGHTER SQD

F-16AM F-16BM

STN-FLT SKP

T-17

Aircraft having served with FLYVEVÅBNET

Air Force aircraft numbering system:

On August 28, 1947 regulations for numbering the future Air Force aircraft were established. Each aircraft type was issued a TYPE NUMBER of two digits being followed by an individual number of three digits.

Aircraft delivered through MAP normally retained their American numbers. In 1953 squadron code letters as with RAF consisting of three letters, the first indicating the air base, the second the squadron and the third the individual aircraft, was introduced. In 1960 this system was abandoned as was the type numbers and instead type letters were introduced, normally one letter, but for sub-types of same aircraft two letters were used (e.g. F-35 Draken (A) RF-35 (AR) and TF-35 (AT)). These letters were followed by a three digit number, which could be the 3 last digits of the construction or serial number. This system is still in use.

Type No.

62- PERCIVAL PROCTOR MK.III

FOCKE-WULF FW 44J STIEGLITZ

61- SAI KZ.III