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338 Skvadron
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Callsign : |
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Nato Tiger Association status : disbanded member |
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338 Skvadron (Squadron) was formed at Sola Flystasjon (Air Station) on 15 February 1954 and is one of the youngest Skvadrons in the Luftforsvaret (Royal Norwegian Air Force). The Skvadron was first equipped with the Republic F-84G "Thunderjet" and the Republic F-84E "Thunderstreak", and in October 1954 it was transferred to Ørland Hovedflystasjon (Main Air Station), which since then has been its permanent home. |
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In June 1958, 338
Skvadron received its first
North American
F-86F "Sabre" jets.
But the aircraft deliveries of the
"Mutual Defense Assistance
Program” , through which the USA tried to boost defence capabilities in
europe during the eraly Cold War years,
suffered
delivery delays and so
338 had to hand over their brand new
Sabres to 334 Skvadron. They continued to operate the Thunderjet
and it wasn't until the spring of 1960 that the transition was
complete. 338 Skvadron flew the Sabre until 1966, when it re-equipped with the Northrop F-5 "Freedom Fighter". The Norwegian version of the F-5 differed from the standard to cope better with the Norwegian environmental conditions; they were equipped with heated windshield, thicker wing skin coating, drag shoot and arresting hook. 338 Skvadron's main task was to support the Norwegian Hæren (Army) and Sjøforsvaret (Navy) in the defence against a seaborne invasion. They would operate this aircraft for 19 years, until the arrival of the General Dynamics F-16 "Fighting Falcon"in 1985. To help with winter operations the F-16's are equipped with a drag chute. By the mid 90's the cold war was definitely over. The Luftforsvaret had been focused on Air Defence and anti-sea invasion untill then. From now on the forus would be on Air Defence and precision guided convantional attack capability. In 1996 338 Skvadron was added to the NATO Rapid Responce Force (NRF) 338 Skvadron started the conversion to F-16 AM/BM, Falcons with a MLU (mid-life update), in 2000. |
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| When 336 Skvadron disbanded, 338 Skvadron tried to become the new official Norwegian tiger Skvadron and on 21 June 2001 they succeeded. | |||
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On 14
June 2012, the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament) decided that 338
Skvadron should be closed down. 1 April 2019 saw all Norwegian F-16's moved to one single Skvadron, 331 Skvadron, based at Bodø, and 338 Skvadron was disbanded to prepare Ørland and the Norwegian Air Force for the arrival of the 5th Generation Lockheed Martin F-35A "Lightning II" . |
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(all aircraft are to scale, not all drawings show an aircraft in 338 markings) |
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Aircraft
Republic F-84G Thunderjet
Republic F-84E Thunderstreak
North American F-86F Sabre
Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter
Northrop F-5B Freedom Fighter
General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon
General Dynamics F-16BM Fighting Falcon
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II |
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| Insignia | |||
 338 Skvadron (1954) |
 338 Skvadron (2003) |
 338 Skvadron (2007) |
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 338 Skvadron (1963-1985) |
 338 Skvadron (1985-2019) |
 Nato Rapid Reaction Force |
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 331 Skvadron |
 334 Skvadron |
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text & picture sources : own collection & library + the world wide web / No copyright infringement intended : drawings, photos, etc. belong to the rightful owners. |
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