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Airbase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Swedish musician who is known as "Airbase," see Jezper Söderlund.
An airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airport or airfield, provides basing and support of military aircraft.
The United States Air Force and its components (Air Force Reserve & Air National Guard) calls their bases Air Force Bases, Air Reserve Bases, or Air National Guard Bases; most of them are named after a person of military or governmental significance (Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan; Edwards Air Force Base, California; General Mitchell Air Reserve Base, Wisconson). Those with very little or no flying activity are called Air Force Stations (e.g. Jackson Barracks Air Guard Station, Louisiana; Onizuka Air Force Station, California). Air Force Bases located in other countries are called Air Base, and are usually names after the city or region where they're located (e.g. Spandalhem Air Base, Germany). The U.S. Army calles their air bases Army Airfields, and like the Air Force, name most of them after a military figure (Polk Army Airfield, Louisiana; Biggs Army Airfield, TX). The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard calles their air bases Air Stations and generally name them after the area where they're located (Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida; Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, North Carolina; Kodiak Coast Guard Air Station, Alaska).
Some airbases provide facilities very like civilian airports. For example, RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England has a terminal which caters for passengers for the Royal Air Force's scheduled flights, e.g. the Tristar to the Falkland Islands.
Some airbases are built underground. For example, Slatina airport.
Other structures and equipment are specific to military airfields, e.g.:
- Anti-aircraft weapons, e.g. surface-to-air missiles, to protect from air attack.
- Hardened Aircraft Shelters to protect individual aircraft from aerial strikes.
Road airbases are highways constructed to double as auxiliary airbases in the event of war. Nations known to utilise this strategy are Sweden [1] (vägbas, literally meaning "road base"), Finland (maantietukikohta), Germany and Poland (DOL - Drogowy Odcinek Lotniskowy, lit. "road airfield section"). In the case of Finnish road airbases, the space needed for landing aircraft is reduced by means of a wire, similar to the CATOBAR system used on some aircraft carriers.[2]
An aircraft carrier is a type of naval ship which serves as a seaborne airbase, the development of them has greatly enhanced the capabilities of modern air forces. They are now a key part of the military, allowing for military aircraft to be staged much nearer the theatre of conflict. Recent examples of their use includes the Iraq war and the military operations to remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.