Neuburg Air Base is a military air base in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is located in the district of Neuburg on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

, approximately 20 km west-southwest of

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

. Its primary user is Jagdgeschwader 74 (JG 74 for short, Fighter Wing 74 in English) of the German Air Force (''Luftwaffe''), which provides air defence for Southern Germany. Since 2006

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

s have been operated from the base. Although Neuburg is the smallest fighter aircraft base in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, the air base was virtually unaffected by the Bundeswehr reform announced in 2011.

History

Bundesarchiv Bild 141-2738, Unterirdische Produktion von Me 262

The history of military aviation in Neuburg dates back to the year 1912, when a military aircraft landed in the drill square in Neuburg for the first time. In 1935 construction of the base started. In 1937, the base was designated as the "Aviation Weapons School". It was equipped with

Dornier Do 23 The Dornier Do 23 was a German medium bomber of the 1930s. Design and development The earlier Do 11 had exhibited several problems, so two initiatives were launched to address those shortcomings. The first resulted in the Do 13. The second effo ...

's,

Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the p ...

's, and Junkers Ju 52's. Close to the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Neuburg also served as a base and construction facility for the jet-driven

Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German ...

fighter aircraft. On March 19, 1945, the Neuburg jet plant itself was bombed by B-24 Liberators of the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

392d Bombardment Group 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * " '39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a so ...

. After being taken by the Americans, the airfield received the Allied Code designation R-60.

References

Luftwaffe bases Neuburg an der Donau Bases of the German Air Force Airports in Bavaria {{Germany-airport-stub