The Netherlands Armed Forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The armed forces consist of four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organizations. In addition, local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao. These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are part of the Ministry of Defence.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the Luchtvaartafdeling of the Dutch Army, which was founded in 1913. The aerobatic display team of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, active from 1979 until 2019, was the Solo Display Team.
The Belgian Air Component is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force. It was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services.
The Canadair CF-5 is a Canadian licensed-built Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter. It is a light, supersonic, twin engine, daylight air superiority fighter primarily for the Canadian Forces and the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The CF-5 was upgraded periodically throughout its service life in Canada. While Canadian Forces retired the aircraft in 1995, it continues to be used by other countries.
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper is an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate ground control by humans.
The Fokker S-11 Instructor is a single-engine two-seater propeller aircraft designed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It first flew in December 1947 and went on production, serving in several Air Forces in the late 20th century, including with Dutch, Italian, Israeli, Paraguay, Bolivian and Brazilian armed forces. The S-12 was a tricycle landing version of this aircraft.
Soesterberg Air Base was a Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) 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.
Gilze-Rijen Air Base is a military airbase in the south of Netherlands. It is known for having the hottest temperature ever measured in the Netherlands, with a temperature of 40.7 °C, on July 25, 2019. It is between the cities of Breda and Tilburg, which are both in North Brabant. The airport is mainly, but not exclusively, used as a base for Royal Netherlands Air Force helicopters. The airfield has two runways, the longest one is complete with an instrument landing system (ILS) and is 2,779 metres (9,117 ft) long by 45 m (148 ft) wide in the 10/28 direction. The shorter runway is 1,996 m (6,549 ft) by 30 m (98 ft) in the 02/20 direction.
The Romanian Air Force 71st Air Base "General Emanoil Ionescu", also known as Câmpia Turzii Air Base, is located in the commune Luna near the city of Câmpia Turzii, in Cluj County. The 71st Air Base was founded on 1 June 2002 from the previous 71st Fighter and Bombardment Base, according to the Romanian Armed Forces reorganization program. It is named after Emanoil Ionescu, a general who commanded the 1st Air Corps of the Royal Romanian Air Force during World War II.
No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a fighter squadron during the Second World War.
Volkel Air Base is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - Dutch: Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu), located near the village of Volkel, Netherlands. Located in the north-east corner of the province of North Brabant, the air base is home to one F-16 Fighting Falcon squadron, No 312 and a F-35 squadron No 313 and a maintenance, logistical, base Squadron for the RNLAF.
The 148th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Arizona Air National Guard 162d Fighter Wing located at Tucson Air National Guard Base, Arizona. The 148th is equipped with the Block 20 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon. The squadron was first organized in England during World War II, moving to North Africa shortly after the invasion. It participated in combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation. The squadron returned to the United States after V-E Day and was inactivated.
The Solo Display Team was the aerobatics display team of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) and consisted of three elements. The disbanded F-16 Solo Display Team used the fighter jet F-16 and the AH-64D Apache Solo Display Team uses the helicopter AH-64 Apache. The PC-7 Solo Display Team flew the low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft Pilatus PC-7.
No. 322 Squadron is the oldest operational squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). It currently operates the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II from Leeuwarden Air Base, Friesland.
Muwaffaq Salti Air Base - Azraq is a Royal Jordanian Air Force air base located in Azraq, Zarqa Governorate.
Amendola Air Base is a military airfield of the Italian Air Force. It is the home of 32nd Wing.
Exercise Frisian Flag Is a major NATO multinational aerial exercise, held annually at Leeuwarden Air Base, Netherlands, over the North Sea and in the skies above the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.
This article represents the structure of the Royal Netherlands Air Force as of May 2020:
Onno Eichelsheim is a general in the Royal Netherlands Air Force serving as Chief of Defence of the Netherlands Armed Forces since 15 April 2021. Prior to his post, he served as the Vice Chief of Defence from 1 July 2019 to 8 March 2021.
