Rygge Air Force Base () is located in the municipalities of

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

Råde Råde is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Karlshus. The parish of ''Raade'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. The neighbouring municipalities are Vå ...

in Østfold county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

(RNoAF) operates various squadrons and aircraft at the airbase, including

AgustaWestland AW101 The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requiremen ...

''SAR Queen'' and

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. It is a twin-turbine helicopter that has been ...

helicopters. Rygge AFB houses RNoAFs headquarters and staff, Air Force Operations Inspectorate and Air Force Training Inspectorate.

History

720 Squadron was moved from

Gardermoen Air Station Station Group Gardermoen (Norwegian: Gardermoen flystasjon) is located about 50 km north of Oslo, Norway. It is colocated with Norway's main airport, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. 335 Squadron and 717 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force a ...

to Rygge. In 1989 their UH-1B helicopters were replaced with Bell 412s. In 2002, 332 Squadron with

F-16 Fighting Falcons The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

was moved from Rygge to

Bodø Main Air Station Bodø Air Station is a military air base of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) located in the Bodø (town), town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality, Nordland county, Norway. The base is home for a detachment of AgustaWestland AW101#Royal Norweg ...

. Some of the aircraft were relocated to

Ørland Main Air Station Ørland Main Air Station (Norwegian: Ørland hovedflystasjon) is situated at the mouth of the Trondheimsfjorden in Ørland Municipality in Trøndelag county in the center of Norway. Ørland is operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force and is an i ...

. On 1 October 2007, the base was expanded to include the civilian Moss Airport, Rygge, which was shut down to all civilian traffic on 1 November 2016. The

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

FY19 budget has requested $13.8 million being spent for

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

construction at Rygge airport to expand operational capabilities as a part of the

European Deterrence Initiative The European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) is a United States military program initiated in June 2014, about three months after the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, by the White House to increase U.S. presence in Europe for security pu ...

. In 2016, Rygge once again became an air force base under the name Air Force Base Rygge ().

Operations

339 Special Operations Aviation Squadron's

SP aircraft used primarily to support the Norwegian Special Operations Command and

Norwegian Police Service The Norwegian Police Service () is the Norwegian national civilian police agency. The service dates to the 13th century when the first sheriffs were appointed, and the current structure established in 2003. It comprises a central National P ...

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

units. 717 Squadron operates two

Dassault Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both t ...

jets performing electronic-warfare (EW) and EW training. A detachment of 330 Squadron operates

''SAR Queen'' helicopters for

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

. Other represented units from the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...

include the Home Guard, Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization, The Norwegian Defense Estates Agency and

Norwegian Cyber Defence Force The Norwegian Cyber Defence Force () is a branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for military communications and defensive cyberwarfare in Norway. The force employs 1,500 people located at more than 60 locations. The main base is at J� ...

References

External links

Royal Norwegian Air Force' page on Rygge
(in Norwegian) {{Authority control Royal Norwegian Air Force stations Airports in Østfold Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Norway Military installations in Østfold Råde Rygge