Taktische Luftwaffengruppe "Richthofen"

Taktische Luftwaffengruppe "Richthofen" (Tactical Air Force Group) — III —
200px Coat of arms of Tactical Air Force Group "Richthofen"
Active	6 June 1959–present
Country	Federal Republic of Germany (Bundeswehr)
Branch	German Air Force
Role	Air Defence, Rapid Deployment, NATO Command Force
Garrison/HQ	Wittmundhafen Air Base
Patron	Manfred von Richthofen
Commanders
Current commander	Oberstleutnant Timo Heimbach
Notable commanders	Erich Hartmann, Günther Josten
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Formerly: Canadair Sabre F-104 Starfighter F-4 Phantom II Present: Eurofighter Typhoon

Taktische Luftwaffengruppe "Richthofen", formerly known as Jagdgeschwader 71 (JG 71) Richthofen is a Fighter Group of the German Air Force. JG 71 was West Germany's first operational jet fighter unit. On 29 June 2013 the last F-4F Phantom fighter flew for the last time, before the type was taken out of service. The group is now equipped with Eurofighter Typhoon.

Due to restructuring of the German Air Force, JG 71 was transferred into the newly established Tactical Group on 1 October 2013. Its parent unit is now Tactical Wing 31 in Nörvenich.

History

German Air Force JG 71 "Richthofen" Canadair Sabre at the Luftwaffenmuseum. This one specifically bears the personal markings of The Black Devil (Erich Hartmann).

The unit was formed in June 1959, equipped with 50 Canadair Sabre Mk.6s and stationed at the former RAF Ahlhorn. The highest-scoring fighter pilot of all time, Erich Hartmann, flew the Canadair Sabre (reputedly his favorite fighter plane design), and aircraft such as the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, in the newly formed wing in the late 1950s.

On 21 April 1961, the 43rd anniversary of the death of “Red Baron” Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen, JG 71 was given the honorary title of “Richthofen” by Federal President Heinrich Lübke. In 1963, JG 71 transferred from Ahlhorn to Wittmundhafen Air Base.

May 1963 saw the introduction of the first F-104 Starfighters into German Air Force service. In 1974 the Wing obtained its first F-4F Phantom II's and on 19 September 1974 the unit's Starfighters were decommissioned. In 1988 the Wing's secondary role of Fighter Bomber Attack was given up so that JG 71 is now exclusively a Fighter Wing.

File:McD F-4F 38+51 JG71 MILD 26.08.78 edited-2.jpg

F-4F Phantom II of JG 71 in 1978 wearing the unit shield marking on its engine intake cover

JG 71 is part of NATO's Immediate Reaction Force, meaning that it must be ready to deploy 12 aircraft on five days' notice. However, the likelihood of having to deploy at such short notice is almost nil, so the fulfilling Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions for Northern Germany. JG 71 is sharing its QRA duties with JG 74, which completed Eurofighter conversion in late-2008. Depending on the situation, the dividing line between the two units is roughly Frankfurt-Berlin, with JG 71 protecting the northern part of Germany.

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Two F-4 Phantom II of JG 71

In 2007, for the second year running, JG 71 was German Air Force's record-breaking fighter wing in terms of flying activity, clocking up over 7,600 flying hours. The unit is on 24/7 readiness to intercept unidentified aircraft over Germany. Between June and September 2008 the unit took part in NATO's Baltic Air Policing. The unit participated in a Baltic Air Policing deployment from 1 November 2009. In June 2010 six of the unit's F-4s were deployed to Iceland as part of NATOs Icelandic Air Policing mission.

In 2010 JG 71 began receiving its first Eurofighters. The wing flew a mixed fleet for three years until June 2013 when the last Phantoms were withdrawn as scheduled.

References

• Official homepage of JG 71