Fighter Wing Skrydstrup

Fighter Wing Skrydstrup is an air base of the Royal Danish Air Force situated in southern Jutland. It is home to the 30 operative F-16 fighters of the RDAF along with a T-17 Saab Supporter and a single search and rescue helicopter covering southern Denmark.

A total of 700 people works at the fighter wing serving the operational part. The air base covers an area of 856 hektars with three runways with a length of 3,500 meters.

History
The air base was constructed during the German occupation of Denmark as Fliegerhorst Hadersleben in 1943 as part of the atlantic wall. The air base was designed to base 24 HE-177 bombers and a squadron of BF 109 or FW fighters, along with a series of training and reconnaissance aircraft. Due to shortages in material and later alterations of the atlantic defence, the intended flights were never placed in Skrydstrup. Instead, various smaller units of minesweepers, transport planes and training units used the air base in the last years of the occupation.

After the war the air base was used as a camp for German refugees. In 1953 the Royal Danish Air Force decided to expand the runways to 3000 meters making it possible to base jet aircraft in Skrystrup.