page_title: Nordholz Naval Airbase
section_title: NATO use
hierarchical_section_title: Nordholz Naval Airbase / History / NATO use
caption_attribution_description: English: A German Navy Breguet BR.1150 Atlantic (s/n 61+07) of Marineflieger-Geschwader 3 (MFG 3), based at Nordholz, Germany, at RAF Greenham Common, in 1973.
context_page_description: Nordholz Naval Airbase is a German Naval Air base located near the town of Nordholz in Lower Saxony, 25 km north of Bremerhaven, and 12 km southwest of Cuxhaven. It is the home of Naval Air Command, with the Naval Air Wing 3 and Naval Air Wing 5, equipped with the P-3C Orion, Dornier Do 228NG, Mk88A Sea Lynx and Mk41 Sea King.
context_section_description: Situated to the north of Bremen city, Marinefliegerhorst (Naval Air Station) Nordholz is the home of the German Navy's Marinefliegergeschwader 3 "Graf Zeppelin". Named in honour of Germany's pioneer of lighter than air airships, the MFG 3 operates both the service's long range maritime patrol and shipborne helicopter fleets. Additionally, MFG 3 also flies the Dornier Do.228 environmental patrol aircraft which belong to the Department of Transport. The slogan "fliegen wo die Flotte fährt" (to fly where the fleet sails) is taken seriously by this unit.
  In 1959 construction of the current airbase began. This time a single runway airfield was constructed according to NATO standards, which was to serve as a Naval Air Station. Building ended in 1962, with the first parts of MFG 2 arriving in July. On 26 April 1963 the airfield was officially put into service, though the usability of the base was still limited.
  A year later the subhunting component of MFG 2 moved from Westerland on Sylt to Nordholz. In 1965 the airfield was officially handed over to the planning staffs of MFG 3.
  Since 1966, the Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic has been the German Navy's anti submarine warfare and long range maritime patrol asset. The type replaced the British supplied Fairey Gannets used for a few years during the 1960s. The Atlantic is unique in that it has been designed specifically from scratch. The other western types with the same mission, the American P-3 Orion and the British Nimrod, found their origins in respectively the Electra and Comet civil transports. A total of 20, excluding a non-flying prototype, were delivered to MFG 3 during 1966 and 1967.
  MFG 3 was left as the only unit at Nordholz, when the final two Noratlas of "Passon" left the airbase in 1981. The civil airgroup provided aerial targets over the North and Baltic Sea since 1964.
  Nordholz was used for several Cold War NATO deployments of USAF/ANG units during the annual "Reforger" exercises.
  Out of the 20 Atlantics, five were converted during 1969 and 1970 into SIGINT (SIGnals INTelligence) aircraft, specialised in electronic reconnaissance of hostile radar systems and communications of what used to be the Eastern Bloc. Under the code name of Peace Peek, the conversions were done by E-systems in the United States. Today, three of these machines survive, among them 61+06 depicted left. One of these has already been scrapped, the other has been broken up for spares. They can easily be distinguished by their differing radome under the fuselage. The SIGINT machines proved especially useful during the NATO operations around Kosovo during 1999. It may be that the SIGINT Atlantics will be replaced with a variant of the Northrop-Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, if funds can be found.
  Out of the 15 standard Atlantics, only eight survived. One was lost in a crash in April 1978, the others have already been scrapped or relegated to ground instructional duties. Nevertheless, the type was kept busy until just a few years ago. From early 2002 a detachment of Atlantics flew lengthy patrol missions from Mombasa, Kenya over the Indian Ocean looking for suspected shipping in the war on Terror. In September 2003, the detachment, than known as 15. Einsatzgruppe der Marinefliegerflottille (EinsGrpMFlgFltl) or 15th Operations Group Naval Air Forces moved north to Djibouti. The detachment was terminated in March 2005. Since 2008 the detachment is continued by flying with their new P-3C Orion
  Nordholz currently operates a mix of Lockheed P-3C Orions, Mk88A Sea Lynx, Mk41 Sea King and the Dornier Do 228NG. Some 2,000 civilian and military personnel are based at Nordholz, with the wing providing surveillance & reconnaissance, anti-submarine search, SAR and pollution control operations. However the Mk41 are sanctioned to be replaced in the next few years by the NH.90 helicopters which are currently on order for the German Navy.
caption: Breguet Atlantic of MFG 3 in 1973.
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