Volkel Air Base Volkel Air Base ( ) is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force ( RNLAF ) - Dutch : " Koninklijke Luchtmacht ( KLu ) " , and is located near the town of Uden , Noord - Brabant , in the Netherlands . It is home to two F - 16 Fighting Falcon squadrons , 312 and 313 . A third squadron formerly present at the base , 311 , was officially disbanded on 27 September 2012 . It also houses a maintenance , logistical , a base Squadron for the RNLAF , and also the 703rd Munitions Support Squadron , part of the 52d Fighter Wing from the United States Air Force . Besides military use , a traumahelicopter operated by ANWB Medical Air Assistance on behalf of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre is based here . The Dienst Luchtvaart Politie also makes use of Volkel Air Base . Volkel Air Base is one of several military airfields in the Netherlands , and one of the three major operational bases of the RNLAF , the other two being Leeuwarden Air Base and Gilze - Rijen Air Base . Together with these , it also hosts the public viewing days of the RNLAF , held annually at one of these three airfields , having both an airshow and static display of various military and civilian aircraft . The airport has two parallel runways , both in the 06 / 24 direction , and both being just over long . 06L / 24R is wide , and is capable of handling larger aircraft . It is also equipped with an instrument landing system ( ILS ) . 06R / 24L is narrower at only wide . History . After the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany in 1940 , the Luftwaffe constructed a diversion airfield for fighter aircraft called " Nachtlandeplatz Volkel " . Later during the war , in 1943 , the airfield was turned into an operational Luftwaffe base , and renamed " Fliegerhorst Volkel " . It was home to the " 5e Zerstörer Gruppe " operating the Junkers Ju 88 , and the " 3e Gruppe Jagdgeschwader 7 " operating the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter aircraft . A second jet engined aircraft , the Arado Ar 234 Bomber , landed in the morning of August 30 , 1944 , and flew bombing missions out of Volkel for about a week . V - 1 flying bomb s were also fired from Volkel . To defend the base against aerial attacks , the Germans had installed flak guns , but it was still bombed extensively . Attacks in 1944 in relation to Operation Market Garden caused such extensive damage to the airport that it could no longer be used by the Luftwaffe . When later that year the south of the Netherlands was liberated , the Royal Air Force took control of the airfield . Though the Germans had destroyed most of the remaining airport facilities , the RAF continued to use the airport for the remainder of the war , operating Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest aircraft from Volkel in support of the allied advance into Germany . French ace Pierre Clostermann , at the time a flight commander in No 122 Wing , provides a detailed description of operations from Volkel in early 1945 in his book " The Big Show " . The Dutch Naval Aviation Service started flying from Volkel in 1949 for training purposes . In 1950 , the Royal Netherlands Air Force took control of the airfield , restoring it to an operational fighter base . Gloster Meteor aircraft were the first jet aircraft to be based at Volkel for the RNLAF . Later came the Republic F - 84 Thunderjet and Thunderstreak , which were eventually replaced by the Lockheed F - 104 Starfighter , the first supersonic aircraft of the RNLAF . In the 1970s , airport facilities were improved , and 32 protective Hardened Aircraft Shelter s ( HAS ) were constructed for the aircraft . Between 1982 and 1984 , the Starfighters were slowly replaced by the F - 16 Fighting Falcons that are currently based at Volkel , which were manufactured under license by Fokker . The current F - 16 aircraft are expected to be replaced by the F - 35 Lightning II . Nuclear weapons . It was believed that since the early 1960s , USAF nuclear weapon s were stored at Volkel Air Base , to be used by the host nation ' s aircraft . Formerly , storage took place in a weapon storage area on the north side of the base , and in a heavily defended quick reaction alert ( QRA ) area - but since 1991 , eleven WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System vaults are operational in the floors of the aircraft shelters . The USAF 703rd Munitions Support Squadron ( 703rd MUNSS ) is in charge of maintaining and securing the weapons . As of 2008 , 22 B61 nuclear bomb s are believed to be in storage at Volkel , to be used by the Dutch 311 and 312 F - 16 squadron s at the base . The F - 16s based at Volkel can at times be seen with BDU - 38 dummy bombs , which are used to simulate the B61 . Despite the evidence for this , the Dutch Ministry of Defence never officially acknowledges or denies the presence of nuclear weapons at Volkel . In a book published by former air force pilot Steve Netto it is revealed that some fifty B28 nuclear bomb s were in storage there around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis , which if needed were to be deployed by aircraft of the Royal Netherlands Air Force . In a document leaked as a part of the United States diplomatic cables leak the presence of nuclear weapons in the Netherlands is confirmed , though no specific location is given . On 10 June 2013 , former prime minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed the existence of 22 nuclear weapons at the airfield .