Militärflugplatz Emmen (Emmen Military Air Base) is a

military airfield An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

of the

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army an ...

north of

Emmen, Switzerland Emmen is a village and municipality in the district of Hochdorf in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality Emmen consists of the village Emmen, the town Emmenbrücke, and several hamlets. History Emmen is first mentioned in 840 ...

, located northwest of

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

History

After several previous projects in the 1920s by the federal government and the city of Lucerne, the Municipal Assembly of Emmen decided in 1938 to make a contribution of CHF 200,000 for the construction of the airfield. After the construction of the airfield, the first landing took place on 7 July 1939. In 1940, a hard surface and a 600 m long cross runway was created. This was extended in 1942 to a concrete runway at 700 m, in 1946 to , and in 1957 to . The first jet fighter was built by F+W Emmen (today RUAG Aerospace) and took off from Militärflugplatz Emmen; the N-20.2 Arbalète is today exhibited in the

Swiss Museum of Transport The Swiss Museum of Transport or Verkehrshaus der Schweiz (literally "Transportation House of Switzerland") in Lucerne opened in July 1959 and exhibits all forms of transport including trains, automobiles, ships and aircraft as well as communicati ...

. After the project EFW N-20 was canceled, the in Emmen built N-20:10 Aiguillon prototype was denied to make a first flight; perform only a few taxi on the runway of Emmen were made. The N 20:10 Aiguillon is today exhibited in the

Flieger-Flab-Museum The Flieger Flab Museum (English: Swiss Air Force Museum) is located in the Canton of Zurich in Dübendorf on the grounds of Dübendorf Air Base. In the museum, 40 airplanes and helicopters are displayed, with the collection divided into disti ...

. All types of aircraft of the Swiss Air Force have been at Militärflugplatz Emmen since its existence.

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...

de Havilland Venom The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered comba ...

Aérospatiale Alouette II The Aérospatiale Alouette II (, "lark"; company designations SE 313 and SA 318) is a French light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale. It was the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine en ...

Aérospatiale Alouette III The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a relatively popular ...

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...

, Dassault Mirage IIIS, Dassault MirageIIIRS.

Today

The airfield of Emmen is used primarily by the military and is operated by the

as a training and alternate airfield for jet and propeller aircraft as well as the ADS95 RUAG Ranger

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

. This means that no jet aircraft squadron is stationed in Emmen, but the airfield is still used as a training and alternate air base. The air base is, at both ends of the runway, equipped with retractable

arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOB ...

devices (used by the

F/A-18C Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now par ...

and in case of a problem by the F-5E Tiger). Next to the aerodrome serves the following military uses:Homepage of Militärflugplatz Emmen
* Location of the aerobatic team

Patrouille Suisse The Patrouille Suisse is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. The team flies six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter/bomber jets. History The Patrouille Suisse was founded on August 22, 1964 with four Hawker Hunters. Two displays were also ...

* Flight training for Swiss Air Force fighter pilots with the

Pilatus PC-21 The Pilatus PC-21 is a turboprop-powered advanced trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit. It is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Development In November 1997 Pilatus flew a modified PC-7 Mk.II in order to test improvements for ...

* Location of transport squadrons and also with charterflights for the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2009, becomes self sufficient. KFOR entered Kosovo on 11 June 1999, two days ...

(KFOR) troops of Swisscoy * Training and courses with reconnaissance drones * Training center for simulators Schweizer Luftwaffe: Simulatoren
with

Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactur ...

, Eurocopter EC 635 and

. Factory flights RUAG Aviation on behalf of the Swiss Air Force * Test and trial flights

Armasuisse The Federal Office for Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) is a federal agency of the Swiss Confederation. It is the procurement organization for armaments of Switzerland and is affiliated with the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection ...

In addition to the military use of the airfield, limited civil use is possible on a small scale. The RUAG Aviation manages a total quota of 1,000 flight movements per year for civilian use. RUAG itself use Emmen for test flights and for the transport of rocket payload fairings with rented

Antonov An-124 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukr ...

transport aircraft. It is the home base of the three Armasuisse aircraft: the

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in add ...

HB-FOG,

Pilatus PC-6 The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- an ...

HB-FCF and the

Diamond DA42 The Diamond DA42 Twin Star is a four seat, twin engine, propeller-driven airplane developed and manufactured by the Chinese-owned, Austria-based company Diamond Aircraft Industries. It was Diamond's first twin engine design, as well as the fi ...

R-711. In the summer flight break find exceptionally organized by the private sector, civil major events take place. Air traffic control is performed by the military branch of Skyguide Skyguide National.

References

External links

Militärflugplatz Emmen

Swiss Army movie about Emmen AFB on youtube
*
Schutzverband der Bevölkerung um den Flugplatz Emmen

Flugplatz Emmen
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmen Air Base Airports in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Lucerne Transport in Lucerne Military airbases in Switzerland

History

Today

See also

References

External links