Büchel Air Base

Alflen, Germany

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ETSB

ICAO

1568 ft

Elevation

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German Air Force base hosting NATO nuclear sharing mission.

Opened

1952

Location

Alflen, Germany

Büchel Air Base (ICAO: ETSB) is a military airfield located near Büchel and Alflen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It serves as the home base of Tactical Air Wing 33 (Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33) of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). The base is one of the few remaining sites in Europe where United States nuclear weapons are stored under NATO's nuclear sharing arrangement, with B61 nuclear gravity bombs believed to be held in hardened underground vaults. German Tornado IDS aircraft assigned to the wing are certified to deliver these weapons in a wartime scenario. Büchel is a non-commercial installation with no civilian passenger services. It plays a significant strategic role within NATO's nuclear deterrence posture and has been the subject of ongoing political debate in Germany regarding nuclear disarmament.

Notable facts

›Home to Tactical Air Wing 33 (TaktLwG 33) of the German Luftwaffe.
›Believed to store US B61 nuclear bombs under NATO nuclear sharing arrangements.
›German Tornado IDS aircraft at Büchel are certified for nuclear strike missions.
›Planned to receive Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft as the Tornado is phased out.
›The base has been a frequent target of anti-nuclear protests by German peace activists.

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Encyclopaedia

Büchel Air Base is a military air base of the Luftwaffe in Büchel (Germany), near the city of Cochem and at about 70 km from Spangdahlem Air Base. It is home to the Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and the 702 Munitions Support Squadron (702 MUNSS) of the United States Air Force (USAF). Since 1985, tactical Air Force Wing 33 has been operating German Panavia Tornado airplanes, which can deliver twenty B61 nuclear bombs, the only remaining nuclear weapons in Germany. As of 2023, Büchel was one of six active air bases in five European countries with B61 nuclear bombs in underground WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System inside aircraft shelters, per nuclear sharing. Since 1996 there have been annual protests and over one hundred activists have been sentenced for nonviolent protest.

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