Drachenbronn Air Base

Drachenbronn Air Base (Base Aérienne 901 Drachenbronn) of the French Air Force is located in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach in the Bas-Rhin département. It houses the Centre de détection et de contrôle 05/901.

Operations room of the CDC Drachenbronn

The base uses the underground facilities of the former Ouvrage Hochwald of the Maginot Line. Its mission is the surveillance of aviation movements in eastern France.

History

In 1946 the Air Force began studies for the creation of a radar station on top of the ouvrage. Construction began in 1952, and in 1955 major construction was undertaken in the ouvrage for a radar control room and operations center, which was placed in operation in 1957, originally designated Station Maître Radar 50/921.^[1] The facility was briefly called Ouvrage H and was connected to Ouvrage G at the Fort du Salbert near Belfort and Ouvrage F at Fort François de Guis at Metz.^[2] In 1960 the facility was renamed Base Aérienne 901. In 1991 the base was named for Commandant de Laubier, a hero of the French defense of Sedan in 1940.

The operations center was again renovated in 1964 to accommodate the VISU/STRIDA II system, and again in 1984 for the VISU/STRIDA IV system.^[1] It was yet again renovated in 2007 with a new operations room.^[3]

A three-dimensional radar was installed on the nearby Hochwald mountain, which dominates the Alsace plain and the Rhine valley.

Source

• This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding French Wikipedia article as of January 25, 2008.

See also

• Maginot line
• French air defence radar systems

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Historique de la base" (in French). Base Aérienne 901. French Ministrybof Defense. 2 February 2007. http://www.ba901.air.defense.gouv.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=127&Itemid=173. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 
2. ^ Brolli, Antoine (1987-1988). "L'ouvrage "G" de la D.A.T." (in French). Bulletin de la société belfortaine d'émulation (79). ISSN 0242-5106. 
3. ^ "Centre de Détection et de Contrôle - Historique" (in French). Base Aérienne 901. French Minstry of Defense. 3 September 2008. http://www.ba901.air.defense.gouv.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=250. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 

External links

• Base Aérienne 901 official site (French)