Aerodrome used by a military force for the operation of military aircraft
For the Swedish DJ and musician known as 'Airbase', see
Airbase (DJ)
.
F-4G Phantom II
and
F-16
at
Spangdahlem Air Base
, Germany in 1990.
A
Finnish Airforce
BAe Hawk Mk51A
fighter (HW-355) at
Kauhava Airport
in
Kauhava
,
Finland
in 2008.
Osan Air Base
, an airbase shared by
United States Air Force
and
Republic of Korea Air Force
in South Korea.
An
airbase
[1]
[2]
(stylised
air base
in American English), sometimes referred to as a
military airbase
,
military airfield
,
military airport
,
air station
,
naval air station
,
air force station
, or
air force base
, is an
aerodrome
or airport used as a
military base
by a
military
force for the operation of
military aircraft
.
Airbase facilities
[
edit
]
An airbase typically has some facilities similar to a
civilian
airport
; for example,
air traffic control
and
firefighting
. Some military aerodromes have passenger facilities; for example,
RAF Brize Norton
in
England
has a terminal used by passengers for the
Royal Air Force
's passenger transport flights. A number of military airbases may also have a
civil enclave
for commercial passenger flights, e.g.
Beijing Nanyuan Airport
(China),
Chandigarh Airport
(India),
Ibaraki Airport
(Japan),
Burlington International Airport
(USA),
Sheikh Ul-Alam International Airport Srinagar
(India),
Taipei Songshan Airport
(Taiwan),
Eindhoven airport
(The Netherlands). Likewise, the opposite also occurs; large civilian airports may contain a smaller military airbase within their environs, such as
Royal Brunei Air Force Base, Rimba
(located within
Brunei International Airport
).
Some airbases have dispersed aircraft parking,
revetments
,
hardened aircraft shelters
, or even
underground hangars
, to protect aircraft from enemy attack.
Combat aircraft
require secure protected storage of
aircraft ordnance
and munitions. Other facilities may also include technical buildings for servicing and support of survival equipment (including
flying helmets
and personal liquid oxygen), flight simulator for synthetic training, servicing facilities for all aircraft systems (airframes, propulsion, avionics, weapons systems)
[3]
and associated ground support systems (including mechanical transport). All military airbases will have buildings for
military administration
(station headquarters, squadron briefing and operations), and larger bases will also include medical and dental facilities for military personnel (and sometimes their dependents), along with dining (
mess
, informally known as the 'cook house'), accommodation (single living accommodation for
junior ranks
, Sergeants' and Officers' Mess for senior non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers), recreational facilities (club house for socialising), shopping facilities (
NAAFI
shops, base exchange, commissary), and sports facilities (gymnasium, swimming pool, sports pitches). An airbase may be defended by
anti-aircraft weapons
and
force protection
troops.
A
JAS 39 Gripen
of the
Swedish Air Force
taking off from a road runway, as part of a dispersal airbase.
Dispersal airbase
[
edit
]
A dispersal (or dispersed) airbase is an airfield that is used for the purpose of
dispersing
air units in the event of conflict, so to minimise the vulnerability of aircraft and its supporting units whilst on the ground.
[4]
Dispersal airbases are not necessarily ordinarily operational in peace time, and may only be activated when needed. Airfields used as dispersal bases can either be auxiliary military airfields, civilian airports, or
highway strips
. Examples of uses of dispersal bases are the
Swedish
Bas 60
and
Bas 90
systems, the
British V-Bomber dispersal bases
, and
NATO's Dispersed Operating Bases
in
France
.
Highway strip on the
Autobahn A29
near
Ahlhorn
[5]
Road airbase
[
edit
]
Road airbases are
highways
constructed to double as auxiliary airbases in the event of war. Countries known to utilise this strategy are
India
,
[6]
Sweden
,
[7]
Finland
,
Germany
(formerly),
[5]
Singapore
,
Switzerland
,
[8]
South Korea
,
Turkey
,
Poland
,
Pakistan
, and the
Czech Republic
. In the case of
Finnish
road airbases, the space needed for landing aircraft is reduced by means of an
arrestor wire
, similar to that used on some aircraft carriers (
Finnish Air Force
uses
F/A-18s
, which can land on aircraft carriers).
[9]
Aircraft carrier
[
edit
]
An
aircraft carrier
is a type of
naval ship
which serves as a seaborne airbase, the development of which has greatly enhanced the capabilities of modern
air forces
and
naval aviation
. In many countries, they are now a key part of the military, allowing for their military aircraft to be staged much nearer the area of conflict. Aircraft carriers were vital to the
United States
during
World War II
,
Korea
and the
Vietnam War
, and to the
United Kingdom
in the 1982
Falklands War
. They retain modern roles as well as "several acres of sovereign territory a nation can move about at will", which allows greater flexibility in diplomacy as well as military affairs. Aircraft carriers may also used in
disaster relief
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
The dictionary definition of
airbase
at Wiktionary
Media related to
Airbases
at Wikimedia Commons