Danish Air Force - History

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 Jutland.

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 the 48 fighters with a more advanced fighter. Contenders include the Boeing F/A-18EF Super Hornet, the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter, and the Saab Aviation Gripen. The Eurofighter Typhoon fighter was withdrawn from the competition on the grounds that the changes in the bidding process made that company think that the American or Swedish airplanes were favored in it.

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 will happen as of 1 January 2011 where the naval helicopters will form Eskadrille 723 according to the latest political defense agreement. The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO), have 5 new types on a short list for replacing the Lynx with around 12 new naval helicopters. The Sikorsky/Lockheed MH-60R, the NH90/NFH, H-92, AW159 and AW101. The Request For Proposal was issued on 30 September 2010. A decision is expected in 2011.

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. 2009 6 replacement AW101 were delivered from Agustawestland Yeowil paid by UK.

In June 2010 the Sikorsky S-61 SAR helicopter was withdrawn.