Bodø Air Station (; ) is a military air base of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) located in the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality, Nordland county, Norway. It is home to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 331 and 332 Squadrons and a detachment of Westland Sea King search and rescue (SAR) helicopters of the 330 Squadron. Air defense is provided using NASAMS and RBS 70, with the battalion based at Bodin. About 1,000 employees work at the air station, of which 450 are conscripts. Operations at the air station are organized as the 132nd Air Wing, which includes the Norwegian Joint Headquarters at Reitan and a detachment of Sea Kings at Station Group Banak. Bodø serves as the main air station for Northern Norway and shares its runway with Bodø Airport.
The first airfield was a simple wooden runway built in May 1940 by Allied forces during the Norwegian Campaign of World War II. The airfield was quickly bombed by the Luftwaffe, who chose to build a new airport in the same location. It remained in German use until 1945, when it was taken over by the RNoAF. Upgrading to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standards started in 1950, and fighters have been stationed at Bodø since 1955. Aircraft previously stationed are the F-84 Thunderjet, the F-86 Sabre and the F-104 Starfighter. The air station will be closed with the delivery of the F-35 Lightning II, and only the SAR detachment will remain.
History
World War II
The first military aircraft to land in Bodø was a Hansa-Brandenburg aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service which landed in July 1922. From the mid-1930s, regular seaplane flights were started from Bodø to Southern Norway. Two military Tiger Moth aircraft were sent from Trøndelag to scout the Bodø area for a possible site to land aircraft, and landed at Rønvikjordene. From 1935 additional aircraft missions were carried out to the area. In 1939 a plan for establishing airports in Nordland was made, which included a main air station at Bardufoss and five other smaller airport, including Rønvik. At the time of the break-out of World War II in Norway in April 1940, construction had yet to start. At the time both Germany and the United Kingdom believed that there was an airport in Bodø.
During the Norwegian Campaign the German troops were isolated in Narvik and the Allies decided to build an airport in the yet unoccupied Bodø area to allow air raids against German troops in a flanking maneuver in combination with Bardufoss Air Station. A airstrip made of peat and nets was built at Hernes in the course of twelve days in May. During construction German aircraft practice landing on the strip, flying just above. A detachment of the Royal Air Force's 263 Squadron with sixteen Gloster Gladiator aircraft was stationed at Bodø from 21 May and 46 Squadron with eight Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft were used for raids on German aircraft in Saltdalen and evacuate Allied soldiers in Rognan on 26 May. The following day, ten German Junkers Ju 87, escorted by four Messerschmitt Bf 110, bombed the airport. In the evening the Luftwaffe bombed not only the rest of the airport, but also the town.
German forces captured Bodø on 1 June and immediately started preparing for a new airstrip. By August a runway was finished and the work was completed by April 1941 with a runway, in addition to various buildings. The need for the airport was both to counteract Allied raids and to allow reinforcements for a planned attack on the Soviet Union. At first fighters and reconnaissance aircraft were stationed at Bodø, but later also bombers. From January to April 1942 the Luftwaffe dispatched the 7th Squadron of the Jagdgeschwader 5 to Bodø, consisting of fifteen Messerschmitt Bf 109.
New squadrons, largely of Ju 87s, were stationed in Bodø. However, there were no Allied raids, so the aircraft were sent to the Murmansk Front. Throughout the war the Wehrmacht built "Festung Bodø", consisting of army, navy and air force installations, including starting work on a concrete runway to replace the wooden runway. From the fall of 1944, Bodø again received an increasing number of aircraft, as Germany moved their fleet northwards following Finnish capitulation. Up to forty fighters plus other aircraft were stationed at the airport. When Germany capitulated on 8 May 1945 there were thirty aircraft at the airport.