Danish Naval Air Squadron The Danish Navy Air Squadron ( ) , was the aerial component of the Danish navy , from 1977 to 2010 - 12 - 31 . Operationally it was directly under command of the Danish Naval Command , but maintenance of the eight Westland Lynx helicopters and training of personnel was in cooperation with the air force . The helicopter s were used primarily for fishery patrol , shipboard support and coastal Search & Rescue ( SAR ) missions . The tasks and hardware have now been transferred to the air force as Eskadrille 723 ( " Squadron 723 " ) . History . The squadron was originally a flight in the air force " eskadrille 722 " ( 722nd Squadron ) when the first Alouette III helicopter was received in 1962 . In 1977 the flight was made into a unit of its own and became a part of the navy , under the name " Søværnets Flyvetjeneste " ( " The Naval Air Service " ) . In 1980 - 1982 the eight Alouette helicopters were replaced with the new Westland Lynx helicopters . In 2000 it was decided that " Søværnets Flyvetjeneste " should be transferred to the air force as a squadron ( " 728th Squadron " ) and put under operational command of the air force command along with the Army Air Corps ( " Hærens Flyvetjeneste " ) , but for a political reason only the army units were transferred to the air force ( as " 724th Squadron " ) . At the same time , all the Danish helicopter units were also to move physically from " Værløse Air Station " and " Vandel Air Station " to " Karup Air Station " . The total number of helicopters in the air force would have been 8 Sikorsky S - 61A , 13 Eurocopter AS550C2 Fennec , 16 Hughes H - 500C Cayuse and 8 Westland Lynx Mk . 90B as well as 14 AgustaWestland EH - 101 Merlin under purchase - a grand total of 59 helicopters . International obligations didn ' t allow for the Danish air force to possess so many helicopters . Because of that the Naval Air Service was transformed into the Naval Air Squadron on 1 January 2004 . A Danish navy helicopter foiled a pirate attack off Somali coast , 28 August 2010 . Organisation . Order of Battle on 31 December 2010 , the day it was disbanded : Bases . Vaerlose ( ICAO code : EKVL ) Vaerlose is located northwest of Copenhagen , only about 20 km from the city centre . It was originally constructed as an army camp in 1910 and rebuild as a military airfield in the 1930s . After WW2 RDAF operations were resumed , principally with transport aircraft . It became the main base of the Naval Air Service in 1962 . On 1 April 2004 the airfield was closed as a military base , due to military budget cuts , and handed over to civilian use in October 2008 . Runway data : Location : N55° 46 ' 3 " E012° 20 ' 36 " , Elev : 58 ft ( 18 m ) , Rwy 28 / 10 , Size : 8061 x 150 ft ( 2457 x 46 m ) . Karup ( ICAO : EKKA ) Karup is located between Herning and Viborg in central Denmark . It is a dual civil - military airport . It was originally build by the Germans in WW2 as " Fliegerhorst Grove " , and taken over by the RDAF post war . Since 2004 it has been the main helicopter base for the Danish Defence . Runway data : Location : N56° 17 ' 50 . 85 " E009° 07 ' 28 . 66 " , Elev : 170 ft ( 52 m ) , Rwy 04 / 22 , Size : 2936 x 50 ft ( 895 x 15 m ) , Rwy 09 / 27 , Size : 2789 x 197 ft ( 850 x 60 m ) , Rwy 09R / 27L , Size : 9607 x 150 ft ( 2928 x 46 m ) , Rwy 09L / 27R , Size : 9816 x 75 ft ( 2992 x 23 m ) , Rwy 14 / 32 , Size : 2296 x 60 ft ( 700 x 18 m ) . Future plans . The Westland Super Lynx is in the process of being replaced with a new helicopter . Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization has short listed the competitors to Sikorsky Seahawk MH60 - R and AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat .