303 Squadron RNLAF

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303 Search and Rescue (SAR) Squadron was a search and rescue unit of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Since its inception in 1959, it carried more than 4,100 emergency and life-saving flights.

Royal Netherlands Air Force Air warfare branch of the Netherlands armed forces

The Royal Netherlands Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953; its ancestor, the Luchtvaartafdeling of the Dutch Army was founded in 1913. The aerobatic display team of the Royal Netherlands Air Force is the Solo Display Team.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force decided in 1959 to create her own rescue unit. The unit is in this early period was 298 Squadron RNLAF, based at Ypenburg Air Base, near The Hague. With the commissioning of the first helicopter, the Alouette II, the squadron gets an extra task: Tactical Air Rescue. After the introduction of the larger and faster Alouette III and the move to Soesterberg Air Base in 1968 this task ended and there were two new tasks: transporting members of the Royal Family and aerial photography.

Soesterberg Air Base Royal Netherlands Air Force military airbase

Soesterberg Air Base was a Royal Netherlands Air Force military air base located in Soesterberg, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east-northeast of Utrecht. It was first established as an airfield in 1911, and in 1913, the Dutch Army bought the field and established the Army Aviation Division.

Since the field is mainly located around military shooting ranges on Terschelling and Vlieland, they moved in 1977 to Leeuwarden Air Base.

Leeuwarden Air Base military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force

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The squadron reequipped with Agusta-Bell AB 412SPs in March 1994. On 15 June 2015, the squadron disbanded, with its search and rescue role being contracted to the Belgian civilian helicopter operator Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (NHV). [1]

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References

  1. van der Mark Air International April 2015, pp. 32–33
<i>Air International</i> magazine in the United Kingdom

AIR International is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd.