Kleine Brogel Air Base

Geschiedenis

Kleine Brogel Air Base is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located 0.8NM east of Kleine-Brogel, in the municipality Peer, Belgium. It is home to the Belgian 10th Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons, which are capable, among other capabilities, of delivering B61 nuclear bombs.HistoryThe base has been subject to much political controversy, because of American nuclear weapons allegedly being stored in the facility by the United States Air Force (USAF), but never recognized officially by the Belgian government. Under the NATO nuclear sharing arrangement, these nuclear bombs would require an actual dual key system, which would imply the simultaneous authorizations of Belgium and the United States, before any action is taken. Should that be the case, Kleine Brogel Air Base would be the only location in Belgium with nuclear weapons. According to the press, Eastern European Member States of NATO resisted the withdrawal of the shared nuclear bombs in Europe, fearing that it would show a weakening of the American commitment to defend the European Union against Russian aggression.None of the five NATO member states, whose air forces allegedly might share in its premises nuclear bombs with the USAF (these are Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey), have ever provided an official confirmation of its existence. However, former Italian President Francesco Cossiga declared that the Aeronautica Militare hosted or shared American nuclear bombs, just as other NATO member states do. In an interview he talked about French weapons. In the same way, on 10 June 2013, former Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed the existence of 22 shared nuclear bombs at Volkel Air Base.

"De vliegbasis Kleine-Brogel, ook wel ‘10de Tactische Wing’, ‘KB’ of ‘KeeBee’ genoemd in militaire taal, is uniek in vele aspecten. KB is namelijk de grootste eenheid van de Belgische Defensie en vervult permanent talrijke belangrijke opdrachten.Iedere dag opnieuw zoekt ons personeel naar mogelijkheden om nog beter te presteren. De militairen en de middelen van KB staan klaar en zijn klaar; vandaag, morgen, onophoudelijk, om de belangen van ons land en de bevolking te verdedigen, in België of tot ver daarbuiten. Vandaag bereiden we eveneens intensief de toekomst voor. Die toekomst ziet er veelbelovend uit nu we weten dat binnen enkele jaren de continu gemoderniseerde F-16’s zullen vervangen worden door de hypermoderne F-35."