Florennes Air Base
Base aérienne de Florennes
Base Jean Offenberg, 5620 Florennes, Wallonia in Belgium
aerial photo of Florennes Air Base, 2018
Florennes Air Base Location in Belgium
Coordinates	50°14′36″N 004°38′45″E / 50.24333°N 4.64583°E / 50.24333; 4.64583
Type	Military airbase
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Belgian Air Component
Condition	operational
Site history
Built	1936; 88 years ago (1936)
Garrison information
Current commander	Colonel Cedric Kamensky
Garrison	2nd Tactical Wing
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: EBFS
Elevation	283 metres (928 feet) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 08L/26R 3,388 m × 45 m (11,115 ft × 148 ft) asphalt concrete 08R/26L 2,248 m × 22.5 m (7,375 ft × 74 ft) asphalt concrete
Source: Belgian Aeronautical Information Publication[1]

Florennes Air Base (French: Base aérienne de Florennes),^[2] also known as Base Jean Offenberg, (ICAO: EBFS) is a Belgian Air Component (formerly the Belgian Air Force) military airbase, compliant to STANAG 3712 category 8 (and category 5 during quick reaction alert operations), located 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometres; 2.3 miles) east-south-east of Florennes,^[1] in the Walloon municipality of Belgium. It is home to the 2nd Tactical Wing, operating two squadrons of the General Dynamics F-16. The Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), a joint training programme for NATO members, was based at Florennes from 1989 to 2009.

History

During World War II, German Luftwaffe fighter units operated from here, including Junkers Ju 88 and Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighters, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 day fighters. It was captured in September 1944 and became known as Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-78, after which Allied units operating from here included the United States Air Force (USAF) 430th Fighter Squadron, flying Lockheed Lockheed P-38 Lightnings in the ground attack role, and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 422nd Night Fighter Squadron, flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows.^[3] From 1984 to 1990, the US Air Force 485th Tactical Missile Wing was located at Florennes, deploying the BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile system, which were removed in 1989 as part of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

In March 1989, the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) moved to Florennes. The TLP is a joint training programme, originally formed in 1978 by defence members from six NATO countries at Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich in West Germany, and previously based at Jever from 1979. By the time TLP arrived at Florennes, it consisted of NATO members from ten countries. Whilst at Florennes, the TLP conducted multilateral military flying training courses, and expanded to include creating formalised documentation for NATO doctrines, along with other academic studies relating to allied air forces. On 31 July 2009, TLP moved to Albacete in Spain.^[4]

Current units

Florennes Air Base is home two fighter squadrons; 1 Squadron, which was formed in 1917, and 350 Squadron, founded in the United Kingdom in 1942 during the Second World War. Both units fly the General Dynamics F-16.^{[citation needed]} It is also home to the Belgian Defence Aeroclub ASBL.^[1]

Notable incidents

On 11 October 2018, a Belgian Air Force F-16AM (registration FA-128) costing €40 million was destroyed by fire at the airbase. During routine maintenance on three nearby F-16s, a technician working on one F-16 accidentally fired its Vulcan M61A1 cannon, the discharged rounds penetrating the fuel tanks of a nearby F-16AM, which had just been fuelled for a training mission, this exploded in a fireball which totally destroyed that aircraft. The explosion also caused collateral damage to two other F-16 aircraft, including the one which discharged its cannon. Two technicians sustained injuries, including hearing loss, and required treatment in hospital.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}