Flesland Air Station

Historie

Flesland Air Station is a military air base situated at Flesland in Bergen, Norway. Part of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, it shares a 2990m runway with Bergen Airport, Flesland. The air station has since 1999 had a mobilization status and is only manned with six employees. Its main structure is an subterranean hangar with space for 25 fighter jets.Construction began in 1952 and the following year the North Atlantic Treaty Organization issued grants for a long runway. The facility cost 70 million Norwegian krone and opened on 14 September 1954. Flesland was never the permanent base of any squadrons. Its role was intended as a forward operating base for the United States Air Force in case the Cold War turned hot. From about 1966 Flesland became a forward storage facility for nuclear warheads, which could be moved to the air station in case of war. From 1985 the became operational as a collocated operating base, with supplies and facilities for USAF aircraft. Flesland Air Station was gradually mothballed during the 1990s.