Royal Danish Air Force

The Royal Danish Air Force (Flyvevåbnet) (RDAF) is the air force of Denmark and is responsible for maintaining homeland defense and carrying out homeland security roles as international operations.

History
The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) was formed as a military service independent from the Army and Navy in 1950 from the merger of the Hærens Flyvertropper (Danish Army Air Corps) originally founded on July 2, 1912 and the Marinens Flyvevæsen (Danish Naval Air Service) which had been founded on December 14, 1911. All military aviation had been prohibited during the Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1945 and so as of V-E Day the Danish armed forces had no aircraft, but the Luftwaffe had built or expanded air bases in Denmark.

The Danish armed forces received 38 surplus Supermarine Spitfire H. F. Mk. IXE and 3 P.R.Mk. XI in 1947-48 plus four additional airframes for ground instruction, which were operated by units of the Hærens Flyvertropper and Marinens Flyvevæsen prior to their merger, and by the Royal Danish Air Force until 1956 when the last 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 Jylland.

In the 1960s and 1970s the RDAF operated a number of US financed Lockheed F-104G Starfighters, North American F-100D and F-100F Super Sabres, and several other types. In 1971 the Danish army created the Royal Danish Army Flying Service as the first air-unit outside the Air Force, since its creation in 1950. It had observation helicopters and piston-engined artillery spotting aeroplanes. In 1977 the Danish Naval Air Squadron was extracted from squadron 722 to the Danish Navy, and it had ship-based helicopters. In a joint arms purchase four NATO countries: Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, and Belgium introduced the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon as their common fighter-bomber in January 1980. The F-16 was later bought by additional NATO countries, Greece and Turkey, and the United States of America, also a NATO member operates the F-16.

In 1999, following the end of the Cold War, the Danish 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 uphold its domestic air-defense and sea-defense commitments.

In 2002, Denmark joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Team, and eventually up to 48 F-35s could be bought to replace the F-16s.

In October 2002, a tri-national detachment of 18 Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian F-16 fighter-bombers, with one Dutch KC-10 tanker, flew to the Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, in support of the NATO ground forces in Afghanistan as part of the Operation Enduring Freedom.

In 2004, the older C-130H Hercules fleet of three transport aircraft (bought by the government in 1973) was replaced by three of the more-advanced and stretched C-130J transport aircraft. A fourth C-130J joined in 2007.

In 2005, a modification program (Mid Life Update) was completed on the remaining F-16 aircraft. The modification programme, started in 1995, introduced 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 30 F-16s with a more advanced fighter. Contenders include the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter, Saab Aviation Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon. The decision of the selected type will be announced before the end of June 2015.

In 2003, 16 H-500 Cayuse and 13 Eurocopter AS550C2 Fennec from the Army Flying Service and eight Westland Lynx Mk. 90B from the Naval Air Squadron were supposed to be transferred to the Air Force. The 16 Cayuse and 13 Fennec helicopters were transferred to the newly re-formed Danish Squadron 724. The eight Lynx helicopters were supposed to enter another re-formed squadron, Squadron 728, but for political reasons those helicopters remained with the Navy. This change of "ownership" of the naval helicopters became effective on 1 January 2011 when the naval helicopters joined the newly formed Squadron 723. The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO), short listed 5 helicopters as potential replacements for the Lynx with around 12 new naval helicopters needed. The Sikorsky/Lockheed MH-60R, the NH90/NFH, H-92, AW159 and AW101 were on the short list and a Request For Proposal was issued on 30 September 2010. Ultimately the Air Force decided to buy 9 Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

In 2005, the 16 Cayuses were decommissioned, an also 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 Air Force signed a letter of intent to purchase several of the Boeing Integrated Defense C-17 Globemaster III. That order needs to be confirmed, but it is to be made on the basis of the formation of a shared NATO C-17 air fleet to support international deployments. Denmark has later withdrawn from this arrangement but it is in existence today. See NATO Strategic Airlift Capability. The United States and the United Kingdom have already bought numerous C-17s, and several other NATO countries are considering doing so, too. In June 2007, Denmark’s six EH101 transport helicopters were transferred to the British Royal Air Force to meet an urgent British requirement for additional transport helicopters. and in 2009 6 replacement AW101 were delivered to the Air Force from Agustawestland Yeowil and paid for by the UK.

In June 2010 the Sikorsky S-61 SAR helicopter was withdrawn.

Organisation
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.


 * Air Transport Wing Aalborg based at Aalborg AB.
 * Eskadrille 721 (721st squadron).
 * 4 Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules pennant letter B
 * 3 Canadair CL-604 Challenger pennant letter C


 * Helicopter Wing Karup based at Karup AB.
 * Eskadrille 722 (helicopters are staged around Denmark for Search and Rescue duties)
 * 14 AgustaWestland AW101 pennant letter M
 * Eskadrille 723
 * 7 Westland Lynx Mk90B pennant letter S
 * Eskadrille 724
 * 8 Eurocopter AS550C2 Fennec pennant letter P


 * Fighter Wing Skrydstrup based at Skrydstrup AB.
 * Eskadrille 727 and Eskadrille 730:
 * Each squadron: 15 General Dynamics F-16AM and F-16BM ''pennant letters E and ET'
 * Flyveskolen (Flying School) based at Karup AB
 * 27 SAAB-MFI T-17 pennant letter T
 * Air Control Wing
 * Control and Reporting Centre Karup (CRC Karup) based at Karup AB
 * Mobile Air Control Centre (MACC) based at Karup AB
 * Combat Support Wing
 * Wing staff
 * Eskadrille 615 (combat communications)
 * Eskadrille 660 (force protection)
 * Eskadrille 680 (combat service support)
 * Eskadrille 690 (medic)

Outside the wing structure is the school structure with the Royal Danish Air Force Officers School in Jonstruplejren near Værløse and the Royal Danish Air Force Specialist School at Karup AB.

Operations

 * From 1960 to 1964 RDAF S-55 helicopters flew missions for UNOC in the Congolese civil war.
 * In 1999 9 F-16 fighters flew sorties over Kosovo from Grazzanise AB, Italy as part of Operation Allied Force.
 * In 2002 and 2003 6 F-16 fighter bombers flew 743 sorties against Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan from Ganci AB, Kyrgyzstan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
 * From July to October 2004, 4 F-16 fighters in Šiauliai, Lithuania, was Denmark's contribution to NATO's Operation Baltic Air Policing. The air policing mission was also undertaken by Danish F-16s in 2009, 2011 and 2013
 * In 2005 three AS550C2 Fennec helicopters were deployed to Iraq for two months to assist the Danish ground forces during the first free elections in the country. In 2007 four Fennecs again deployed to Iraq, this time mainly to provide airborne reconnaissance for convoys on the ground around Basra. The helicopters completed 354 missions before returning home in December 2007.
 * 4 AS550C2 Fennec helicopters belonging to the 724th Squadron of the Helicopter Wing were deployed to Afghanistan on 11 June 2008. These helicopters were based at Camp Bastion, northwest of Lashkar Gar, the capital of Helmand province, and were assigned to provide high altitude observation for Danish ground forces, as well as light transport.
 * From 19 March 2011, 6 F-16 aircraft from Fighter Wing Skrydstrup were deployed to Naval Air Station Sigonella on Sicily to assist in maintaining the no-fly zone over Libya as part of the 2011 coalition intervention in Libya.

Aircraft inventory


Between 1980 and 1983 SABCA in Belgium built 46x F-16A and 12x F-16B for the Royal Danish Air Force. Beginning in 1987 Fokker in the Netherlands built a further 8x F-16A and 4x F-16B for the Royal Danish Air Force. In 1994 the Air Force received 3x F-16A and in 1997 a further 3x F-16A and 1x F-16B from surplus USAF stocks. In total the Royal Danish Air Force received 60x F-16A and 17x F-16B.

Fighters and bombers

 * 🇫🇷 Breguet 14 — 4× 1921-1927
 * Bristol Bulldog — 4× 1931-1940
 * 🇫🇷 Caudron G.3 — 1× 1914-1922
 * Cierva C.30A — 2× 1936-1939
 * 🇳🇱 Fokker C.I — 5× 1923-1933
 * 🇳🇱 Fokker C.V-B & -E — 42× 1925-1940
 * Fokker D.VII — 1× 1922-1927
 * 🇳🇱 Fokker D.XXI — 12× 1938-1940
 * 🇺🇸🇧🇪 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon — 60× F-16A, 17× F-16B Block 1/5/10/15 1980-?
 * Gloster Meteor — 20× F.4/F.8, 20× NF.11, 6× T.7 1949-1962
 * Gloster Gauntlet Mk.I — 18× 1935-1940
 * Hawker Hunter — 30× F.51, 4× T.7 1956-1974
 * 🇺🇸🇨🇦 Lockheed F-104 Starfighter — 25× F-104G, 4× TF-104G, 15× CF-104, 7× CF-104D 1964-1986
 * 🇩🇰 Nielsen & Winther Type Aa, Ab & Ac — 8× 1917-1919
 * 🇺🇸 North American F-86 Sabre — 59× F-86D 1958-1966
 * 🇺🇸 North American F-100 Super Sabre — 48× F-100D, 24× F-100F 1959-1982
 * 🇺🇸 Republic F-84 Thunderjet — 238× F-84G, 6× F-84E 1951-1961
 * 🇺🇸 Republic RF-84F Thunderflash — 23× RF-84F 1957-1971
 * 🇸🇪 Saab 35 Draken — 20× F-35XD, 20× RF-35XD, 11× TF-35XD 1970-1992
 * Supermarine Spitfire — 37× H.F.Mk.IXE, 3× P.R.Mk.XI 1947-1956

Transport

 * 🇺🇸 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress — 1× 1948-1955
 * 🇺🇸 Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina — 8× 1947-1958
 * De Havilland DH.84M Dragon I — 2× 1934-1939
 * De Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly — 2× 1937-1940
 * 🇺🇸 Douglas C-47 Skytrain — 8× 1953-1982
 * 🇺🇸 Douglas C-54 Skymaster — 6× C-54D 1959-1977
 * 🇺🇸 Gulfstream III — 3× C-20 1982-2004
 * 🇺🇸 Lockheed C-130 Hercules — 3× C-130H 1975-2004
 * Percival Pembroke — 6× C-52 1956-1960
 * Percival Proctor — 6× P.44 Mk.III 1945-1951
 * Supermarine Sea Otter — 7× 1946-1952

Trainers

 * Airspeed Oxford — 48× 1946-1955
 * De Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth — 6× 1928-1934
 * De Havilland DH.60M Moth — 2× 1929-1934
 * de Havilland Tiger Moth — 15× 1933-1940
 * 🇨🇦 de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk — 27× 1950-1976
 * Fairey Firefly — 6× TT.1 1951-1959
 * 🇳🇱 Fokker S.III — 2× 1924-1927
 * 🇺🇸 Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star — 26× T-33A 1953-1977
 * LVG B.III — 5× 1920-1929
 * 🇺🇸🇨🇦 North American Harvard Mk.II — 39× 1946-1956
 * 🇺🇸 Piper L-4— 16× 1957-1977
 * 🇩🇰 SAI (Skandinavisk Aero Industri) KZ VII — 10× 1948-1977
 * 🇩🇰 SAI KZ X — 12× Mk.2 1952-1959

Helicopters

 * 🇫🇷 Aérospatiale Alouette III — 8× 1961-1977 (navy)
 * 🇮🇹 Agusta-Bell AB-47G — 3× 1958-1966
 * 🇺🇸 Bell 47D — 3× 1952-1958
 * 🇺🇸 Hughes H-500M — 15× 1971-2005
 * 🇺🇸 Sikorsky S-55C — 7× 1957-1966
 * 🇺🇸 Sikorsky S-61A — 9× 1965-2010

Ranks
The officer ranks were taken from the Danish army and the insignias were copied from the Royal Air Force with minor differences and are as follows:

The other rank insignia are as follows: