Florennes Air Base

Florennes Air Base

(Advanced Landing Ground A-78)
Florennes Air Base; (Advanced Landing Ground A-78)
	IATA: none; ICAO: EBFS;
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	Belgian Air Component
Location	Florennes, Wallonia, Belgium
Built	1936
Elevation AMSL	935 ft / 285 m
Coordinates	50°14′36″N 004°38′45″E / 50.24333°N 4.64583°ECoordinates: 50°14′36″N 004°38′45″E / 50.24333°N 4.64583°E
Map
	EBFS Location in Belgium
Runways
	Sources: Belgian AIP

Florennes Air Base (ICAO: EBFS) is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) east southeast^[1] of Florennes, a Walloon municipality of Belgium. It is home to the 2nd Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons. It also used to be the home to the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), a joint training program formed by 10 NATO members. On July 31, 2009, TLP moved to Albacete in Spain.

Units[]

During World War II, German Luftwaffe fighter units operated from here, including Ju 88 and Bf 110 night fighters, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 day fighters. It was captured in September 1944, after which Allied units operating from here included the USAAF's 430th Fighter Squadron, flying Lockheed P38 Lightnings in the ground attack role, and the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron, flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows.^[2] From 1984 to 1990, the US Air Force 485th Tactical Missile Wing was located at Florennes, deploying the BGM-109 Ground Launched Cruise Missile system, which were removed in 1989 as part of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Currently, two fighter squadrons operate out of Florennes Airbase. 1 Squadron, which was started in 1917 and 350 Squadron, founded in the UK in 1942 during the Second World War. Both units fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Notable incidents[]

On 11 October 2018 a Belgian Air Force F-16 caught fire during maintenance works at the base. The fire, reportedly caused by the accidental firing of a canon, completely destroyed that aircraft. A second F-16 received collateral damage.^[3]^[4]