Dutch Air Force
| Royal Netherlands Air Force Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu) |
|
|---|---|
Royal Netherlands Air Force emblem
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| Founded | March 27, 1953 |
| Country |
 Netherlands
|
| Allegiance |
 King of the Netherlands
|
| Type | Air force |
| Role | Aerial warfare |
| Size | 8.030 personnel, 175 aircraft and 88 UAV |
| Part of | Dutch Armed Forces |
| Motto(s) | Parvus numero, magnus merito (Latin: small in numbers, great in deeds) |
| Commanders | |
| Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force | Lieutenant-general Dennis Luyt |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |
 
|
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | AH-64D |
| Fighter | F-16, F-35A |
| Patrol | Dornier 228 |
| Trainer | PC-7 |
| Transport | C-130 Hercules, CH-47 Chinook, AS-532 Cougar, NH-90, KDC-10, Gulfstream IV, |
The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; Dutch: Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu), "Royal Air Force"), is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953, though its ancestor, the Luchtvaartafdeling (aviation department) of the Dutch Army was founded with four pilots on 1 July 1913. The aerobatic display team of the Royal Netherlands Air Force is the Solo Display Team.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) is the second youngest operational part of the Dutch Armed Forces, which consists of four parts: Navy, Army, Air Force and Military Police.
Dutch air power started in July 1913 with the founding of the Army Aviation Group (Luchtvaartafdeeling or LVA) at Soesterberg airfield (vliegbasis Soesterberg). When founded, the Army Aviation Group operated one aircraft, the Brik, which was supplemented with three French Farman HF.20 aircraft a few months later.
These aircraft were soon outdated and the Dutch government ordered several fighter/reconnaissance Nieuport and Caudron aircraft to replace them.
The Netherlands maintained a neutral position during World War I and the Army Aviation Group did not take part in any action, instead developing the force's capabilities.
Pilot training was opened for ranks below officer, and technical, aerial photography, meteorological and navigation flights were established.
New airfields were established at Arnhem, Gilze-Rijen air base, Venlo and Vlissingen.
After the end of World War I the Dutch government cut the defence budget and the Army Aviation Group was almost dissolved. As political tensions in Europe increased during the late 1930s the government tried to rebuild the armed forces again in 1938 but there were many problems, not least the shortage of pilot instructors, navigators and pilots to fly the new multiple engine aircraft. Lack of standardisation and resulting maintenance issues added to the complexity of the rebuilding task.
As war loomed, in July 1939 the Army Aviation Group was renamed the Army Aviation Brigade (Luchtvaartbrigade).
In August 1939, the Netherlands government mobilised its armed forces, but due to limited budgets the Army Aviation Brigade operated only 176 combat aircraft of the following types:
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