Florennes AB, officially known as “Base Jean Offenberg”, is well-known for hosting the NATO Tactical Leadership Program, or TLP. During this course, held since 1989, many pilots from allied nations have trained in tactics and leadership skills to enhance multi-national tactical air operations. But besides the TLP, Florennes is also the home base for No 2 Tactical Wing of the Belgian Air Component, one of two fighter wings operating the General Dynamics F-16MLU Fighting Falcon.

Base History

The history of the base takes us back to the Second World War. In 1942 the Todt organisation started construction of an airfield for the German Luftwaffe. The first runway was ready in March 1943, and shortly afterwards the first German aircraft were operational. During this period Florennes was home for Messerschmitt Bf 110Fs, Focke-Wulf Fw190A8, and Junkers Ju88C6B and Ju88G aircraft. After American troops liberated Florennes AB in Spetember 1944, it was re-designated “A-78.” On September 16, 1944, the first US Army Air Force unit, the 422nd Fighter Squadron, arrived from Chateaudun in France. This unit was equipped with the Northrop P-61 Black Widow and Douglas A-20 Havoc. The 422nd was joined on September 23rd by the 370th Fighter Group, equipped with Lockheed P38 Lightning, and later by the 474th FG, also with the P-38. In late January 1945, the 370th was replaced by 365th FG, operating the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, which remained only a few months before moving on to Germany in March 1945. By April 1945 all fighter units had left the base, but their place was soon taken by the 344th Bombardment Group equipped with Martin B26 Marauders. After September 1945, the airbase was completely abandoned by the Americans. The first Belgians arrived in May 1946, when a detachment of 60 people was assigned. Its main task was to guard and maintain the facility.

Preparations began in July 1947 to receive the first Belgian flying unit, No 161 Wing. The first aircraft, one Airspeed Oxford and two North American Harvards, arrived in early October, and on October 15 the first combat aircraft, two Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVs were on strength. The wing comprised two squadrons: No 351 Squadron and No 352 Squadron. In November 1948, the wing was re-designated No 2 Wing, 352 Squadron was renamed No 1 Squadron (squadron code ‘3R-‘), and 351 Squadron became No 2 Squadron (squadron code ‘UR-‘). In January 1950 a third Spitfire squadron, No 3 Squadron, was activated.

The Wing entered the jet age when it started conversion to the Republic F-84E Thunderjet in June 1951. The F-84E had a brief career within the Belgian Air Force, being replaced in 1955 by the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak. The last change in this period was the deactivation of No 3 Squadron in 1958.

In 1970, the 8th Squadron was activated in Florennes and was put in charge of conversion to the French-built, supersonic Mirage 5B. The 2nd Wing now became known as the 2nd Tactical Wing. A year later, the 42nd Reconnaissance Squadron “Mephisto” joined the 2nd Wing at Florennes for conversion to the Mirage. By December 1971, the 2nd and 42nd Squadrons were operational on the Mirage 5BA and 5BR respectively. The 8th Squadron then moved to the 3rd Wing at Bierset AB, still with the task of converting pilots onto the Mirage V, and was joined there by the 1st Squadron.

In May 1977, Belgium signed an initial contract for 116 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons (96 A-model single-seaters and 20 B-model two-seaters). Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aeronautiques (SABCA), was responsible for the construction of the Belgian aircraft, as well as Royal Danish Air Force examples.

A second batch of 44 Block 15 OCU was ordered in 1983, to replace the Mirage 5 within the Belgian Air Force. This final order consisted of 40 A- and four B-models, which were delivered between 1987 and 1991. As it was not planned to re-equip 42nd Recce Squadron with the F-16, it moved to Bierset in November 1988 and was replaced by No 1 Squadron, which returned to Florennes after an absence of nearly eight years.

No 2 Squadron was the first squadron at Florennes to become operational on the F-16A, in March 1989, followed by No 1 Squadron in July 1990.

On March 4th, 1996, a third F16-squadron arrived at the base. This was 350 Squadron, which had been formed during the Second World War as a Belgian RAF squadron. Between 1946 and 1996 it was part of No 1 Wing at Beauvechain, which was to become the new training centre for the Belgian Air Force. In April 2001 No 2 Squadron was disbanded, when the Belgian Air Force decided to reduce the number of operational fighter aircraft

Currently No 1 Squadron and 350 Squadron are the only squadrons that are operational at Florennes AB. Florennes will celebrate its 60th Anniversary as a Belgian Air Force station in 2007, with multiple events taking place between June 2nd and July 21st.

Missions and Operations

Florennes is one of two operational F-16MLU airbases in the Belgian Air Component. The other base, Kleine Brogel, is home to the Operation Conversion Unit (OCU), the 31st ‘Tiger’ Squadron, and the 349th Squadron. Together the two airbases operate a total of 72 F-16MLUs, although the fleet will be reduced to 60 by 2015. The majority of the F-16MLUs are assigned to NATO, with 36 allocated to the NATO Rapid Reaction Forces (NRF).

In order to retain the NATO standard qualifications, the F-16s from Florennes and Kleine Brogel train daily in a variety of missions, including air-to-air refuelling, air-to-ground, and air-to-air operations. The two Wings often operate together in the limited airspace not used by civilian air traffic in one of the busiest areas in the world.

At Florennes the 350th Squadron’s primary task is to fulfil Air Defence missions and this squadron is part of the NRF. The 1st Squadron’s main role is offensive conventional operations and reconnaissance.

In addition to these roles, Belgium’s four F-16 squadrons also ensure the safety and sovereignty of Belgian airspace around the clock with the Quick Reaction Alert Interceptor force (QRA-I). In a rotating duty roster, two live-armed F-16AMs are always on a 15-minutes readiness alert at either Kleine Brogel or Florennes. This means they must be airborne within 15 minutes to investigate aircraft with radio problems, assist an aircraft with an emergency, or counter more sinister intentions.

In 1996 Belgium and the Netherlands signed a Deployable Air Task Force (DATF) agreement, and almost immediately a detachment of Belgian F-16s was deployed to Villafranca airbase in Italy for operation “Joint Falcon” in support of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF).

In 1999, during Operation Allied Force in Bosnia, twelve F-16s were deployed to Amendola airbase in Italy. During this deployment, Belgian F-16s actively participated in NATO actions against Serbia, who was refusing to sign a peace agreement for Kosovo.

When the three Baltic republics, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, became members of NATO in 2004, four Belgian F-16s became the first NATO aircraft to deploy there to ensure the sovereignty of their airspace.

In July 2005, four Belgian F-16s left their home country for a six month deployment to Afghanistan, in advance of the Afghan elections later that year. This operation was again a joint one with the RNLAF, as part of the DATF agreement.

The last international mission to date was a second deployment to Lithuania, to provide Air Defence cover for the three Baltic States from December 2006 until the end of March 2007.

The F-16MLU and Weapon Systems

In 1970 Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands became the first international customers for the F-16. In 1993, the four nations decided to upgrade their F-16s (Block 10 and 15) to the F-16MLU (Mid-Life Update) standard, with Belgium deciding to upgrade a total of 90 of its F-16s to this level.

Belgium retrofitted its aircraft with the Dassault CARAPACE ECM-system from 1995 onwards. This comprehensive and passive radar warning receiver consists of two receivers, one located under the air intake and the other in the F-16s extended tail fairing. The installation of this equipment upgraded the F-16 to NATO standards.

Two years later, the Belgian government acquired eleven second-hand AN/ALQ-131 Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) pods, together with modification kits to upgrade the pods to Block-2 standards. This pod provides active countermeasures protection for the aircraft. At this moment the BAC has a total of 36 AN/ALQ-131 pods.

The introduction of the MLU led to the adoption of new weapon systems, such as the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile and the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile. Laser guided munitions like the GBU-10, GBU-12 and GBU-24 bombs can also be used by the MLU aircraft. Together with the AN/AAQ-14 LANTIRN targeting pod and night vision goggles, the Belgian F-16MLUs can now operate with extreme precision and in almost every weather condition. Their capabilities will be increased even further when the Lockheed-Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods, of which eight were ordered in March 2006, join the inventory.

Reconnaissance

With the disbandment of 42 Squadron on December 22, 1993, the 1st Squadron became responsible for the recce role in the Belgian Air Component. At that time the squadron was operating the F-16A, and this model was not suitable to carry the Mirage 5’s reconnaissance equipment. To overcome this gap in capability, the Belgian Air Force in 1994 borrowed two Oldelft Orpheus reconnaissance pods from the Royal Netherlands Air Force and a handful of aircraft received the specific wiring to operate them.

In December 1995, an order was placed for eight Modular Recce Pods (MRP) from Terma Elektronik in Denmark. Initially SABCA modified 18 F-16A OCU aircraft to operate the new reconnaissance equipment. During the MLU-upgrade, all Belgian F-16AM received the necessary hardware and software to operate the MRP.

The MRP pod is in fact a container that holds four cameras and recording equipment. Depending on the mission altitude, different configurations of cameras are available. Low altitude reconnaissance missions, from 250ft to 1800ft, require a 75mm and a 150mm Vinten 8010 electro-optical sensor in the two front left positions, a 75mm Vinten 80100 in the aft right position and a Vinten 8220 Vigil infrared line scanner (IRLS) in the aft center position. Medium-altitude reconnaissance, from 27000ft to 45000ft, requires the same configuration as low recce except the 150mm Vinten 8010 electro-optical sensor is be replaced by a 450mm Vinten 8042. The Vinten 8010 sensor can be used at angles between 0° and 22° below the horizon, while the 8042 sensor has 13 fixed angles between the vertical and horizontal plane, left and right. The Vinten 8220 IRLS offers a horizon-to-horizon capability.

The recorded items are analysed and classified by a mobile ground crew operating from the Ground Exploitation System. They rewind the tapes to a certain mark point set by the pilot when overflying the target. This enables a fast and efficient analysis of the tapes by ground crew and pilots.