Austria - Fliegerdivision - Austrian Air Force

The armed forces consist solely of the army, of which the air force is considered a constituent part. The problematic nature of Austria’s home defence, which has always been a conflict of desire and reality, of military demands and political concessions, has nowhere become more evident than in dealing with the air forces. When after the conclusion of the state treaty the decision was taken to establish air forces, an organisation was chosen which represented a mixture of taking up the air forces of the German "Reich” and the air forces of the corporative state of the time before 1938, respectively.

In 1955 the first nucleus of the future air department and of the air forces of the Second Republic was established in the Home Defence Office, though it should be noted that the question arose from the very beginning whether the air forces were to be established as an independent armed service or simply as an armed service. Finally an "extended armed service” was chosen, containing special technicians, communications components, medical services, logistics, etc., though it was subordinated to the dirctorates general of the Federal Ministry of Defence, like every other group headquarters.

Shortly before declaring neutrality on October 26, 1955, Austria formed an air arm which was tasked with defending Austria's air space. Basic flying training for the Kommando Luftstreitkräfte (Austria's aviation division and an element of the new "Federal Army") began in December 1955 using Yak-11 Moose and Yak-18 Max aircraft which had been abandoned, still in their crates, by retreating Soviet troops. Twenty-two Cessna L-19A Bird Dog observation and liaison aircraft were subsequently purchased under the Mutual Aid Plan for a nominal one Dollar from US forces based in Austria.

Typical for he first raising phase was the lack of personnel and of budget planning as well as of concrete ideas as far as actual aims were concerned. A "greater air force” following Switzerland’s model, which was politically not enforceable, would have been necessary to fulfil the tasks "safeguarding air supremacy, supporting the army by eliminating enemy effects from the air, reconnaissance and fight against enemy ground forces, air transport, communication tasks, and fending off enemy effects from the air”. In addition to that, in competing for the use of former airfields, the air forces came into conflict with civil airlines putting their faith in the establishment of an international airline.

After 1955 there was no other topic which occupied the Air Force to such an extent as the question which fighter aircraft was to be obtained. The decision in favor of the Swedish SAAB J-29F, which was taken in 1960, surprised not only the public but also the air force officers. In the course of the events of 1968 Draken were supposed to be obtained; the choice, however, finally fell on SAAB 105 OE.

During the 1972 reform of the Armed Forces the Air Force lost the air defence components as well as several battalion-size units. By the end of June 1973 the Air Force Command was dissolved and thereupon the air corps was reduced to a mere arm of the service. It was not until 1975 that this mistake was recognized, and as a consequence the status of the Army Air Forces was enhanced to that of an Air Force again, and the Air Brigade became an Air Division. In 1983 the aircraft warning group became the air surveillance command, and in 1984 it was decided to start the acquisition of the Draken, which had been overdue for a long time.

By the early 1990s the air force was organized into a division of three flying regiments and one radar (air defense) regiment. Air Regiment I at Tulln-Langenlebarn consisted of the light transport squadron plus one helicopter wing of AB-206s and OH-58s. Air Regiment II at Graz-Thalerhof, Aigen in Ennstal, and Zeltweg consists of the air interceptor wing of Drakens and a wing of two Alouette helicopter squadrons. Air Regiment III at Linz-Hörsching consists of the fighter-bomber wing of Saab 105Oes and a helicopter wing of AB204s and AB-212s. An air defense battalion equipped with 20mm and 35mm antiaircraft guns and a variety of radar systems is attached to each air regiment.

When the Army Headquarters was dissolved in 1991, many of its responsibilities fell back to the Ministry’s Air Division again. It was at that time already that the idea of re-establishing an Air Force Command originated, which finally was implemented in the course of the Re-Organisation of 2000/2001. It was in 2002 also that the question was settled as to which fighter aircraft was to follow the Draken, which had reached middle age in the meantime. Instead of 30 fighter aircraft, which had been demanded initially, only 18 EADS/Eurofighter Typhoon were acquired.

Today, the Luftstreitkräfte have three main tasks:

1. maintaining the sovereignty of its air space,
2. providing reconnaissance, transport, liaison and combat support for its ground forces,
3. acting in an emergency relief capacity both at home and abroad. The latter ranges from search and rescue (SAR) missions after avalanches, earthquakes and floods to fire-fighting duties.

Austria's air force (Fliegerdivision) is headquartered at Tulln-Langenlebarn Air Base twenty-five kilometers northwest of Vienna. The air force has as its missions the defense of Austrian airspace, tactical support of Austrian ground forces, reconnaissance and military transport, and search-and-rescue support when requested by civil authorities.