Page 220 - Airpower in 20th Century - Doctrines and Employment

220 airpower in 20 Century doCtrines and employment - national experienCes
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the guided weapons against airborne targets (surface-to-air missiles), a new element
in the RNLAF organisation that reached maturity in the 1960s. Since the RNLAF was
already tasked with air defence and was better suited than the army, both from a per-
sonnel and materiel perspective, to maintain the guided weapons, which had impor-
tant similarities with aircraft, the guided weapons were incorporated into the RNLAF
arsenal. In addition to training capacity, the United States, through the MDAP, also
provided launch installations and Nike missiles to set up and equip an air defence
belt, situated in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) at about 150 kilometres
from the Iron Curtain. Between 1961 and 1963, the RNLAF established two Guided
Missile Groups (GGWs) in various locations in West Germany, manned by a total
of eight squadrons and equipped with nine Nike launch installations each. The Nike
missiles could be armed with both conventional and nuclear warheads and be de-
ployed against high-altitude bomber formations. The nuclear warheads could also be
used against ground targets to reinforce the army corps’ nuclear artillery capacity.
To supplement the Nike belt, for countering high-altitude targets, between 1963
and 1966, NATO realised a second integrated air defence belt to counter low-altitude
flying targets. This guided-weapons belt was equipped with conventional Hawk mis-
siles. The RNLAF set up a further three Guided Missile Groups for this Hawk belt,
manned with four squadrons each and stationed in the north-east of Germany. The
Hawk, in contrast to the Nike system, was a fully mobile weapon system. The Guid-
ed Missile Groups had a high level of readiness and could be deployed within a short
response time and under almost any weather conditions. The expansion of the guid-
ed-weapons belts enabled the number of flying air defence squadrons to be reduced.
At its zenith, during the 1960s, almost 25 per cent of the RNLAF personnel comple-
ment was assigned to the Guided Missile Groups. At the end of the Cold War, the
Nike system was phased out, which meant that the Guided Missile Groups lost their
nuclear task. Meanwhile, the number of guided missile units had been significantly
reduced. With the introduction of the Patriot system in 1986, the RNLAF acquired
a new generation of guided weapons. In the early 1990s, the remaining guided mis-
sile units were withdrawn from Germany and subsequently integrated into a single
Guided Missile Group stationed at De Peel Air Base in the Netherlands.
In the post-war years, the air transport task had been mainly assigned to 334
Squadron, which was carrying out a wide range of tasks, initially with a motley
collection of single and twin-engine propeller aircraft. In addition to cargo and pas-
senger transport, the squadron also carried out paratroop drops, medical evacuations,
crew training, and provided assistance to crippled aircraft. In the event of natural
disasters, 334 Squadron would also be deployed to fly in (medical) aid supplies and
aid workers. Despite the squadron’s respectable track record, its scope of action was
limited by the low load capacity and the limited range of the available transport
aircraft. The transition to an air transport fleet with a global range and capable of
carrying large payloads would only be effected in the 1990s.
Around 1960, the outdated Douglas C-47 Dakota transport aircraft were replaced