• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Papa Air Base

Pápa AB has had a long history with the Hungarian Air Force and the evidence of its past was visible. MiG-21's and 23's sat dormant along the flight line and in hardened aircraft shelters, while the base's Mil 17 search and rescue helicopter flies overhead.

After some forty years of service in the Hungarian Air Force the two remaining versions of the MiG-21, the BIS and the UM, were retired on August 24, 2000. The withdrawal of the type meant that the 47th Papa Tactical Fighter Wing was closed down. The precursor of the 47th Tactical Fighter Wing was established on 1 November 1950 in Szentkirályszabadja. After a several years, the wing dislocated to Kecskemét, Sármellék, Taszár, then back to Sármellék and finally in 1961 to Pápa Airbase. The modernization of the wing started in 1974. During the next 5 years the old fighters were replaced by modern MiG-21MF, MiG-21bisz and MiG-23MF fighters. In 1992, the unit was renamed to Hungarian Defence Forces 47th Tactical Fighter Wing.

The Pápa Air Base was established on July 1, 2001, as a part of national commitments in the NATO Infrastructural Development Program, and it is the legal successor of the HDF 47th Pápa Tactical Fighter Wing. It serves as a backup Airfield for both Hungarian and NATO aircrafts and hosts Hungarian Air Force Search and Rescue helicopters. The Airbase was selected to the Main Operating Base for the multinational Heavy Airlift Wing and its C-17 fleet in 2007. In 2006-2007 NATO invested over 8 billion forints, or 32 million euros, in upgrading Papa airport.

In November 2007 NATO selected the airport of the west Hungarian town of Papa as the base of its strategic air transport fleet. The North Atlantic military alliance decided that it would establish the base here, ahead of two other candidates, Ramstein in Germany and Constanta in Romania. The choice reflected the NATO members' view that Hungary is an experienced, qualified and reliable partner. NATO plans to station three or four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport planes on the base. Following the decision to use the base for the strategic fleet, the facility needs to be further modernised.

The Strategic Airlift Consortium (SAC) conducted its first mission in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, 28 Sept. 2009. The first ISAF-related flight by SAC's operational component, the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) based in Papa Airbase in Hungary, delivered materiel to Mazar-e Sharif, to supply Swedish troops in the Afghan theatre.

Pápa is one of the centers of the Reformed faith in Transdanubia, as the existence of numerous Ecclesiastical heritage sites and museums suggest. Due to the multitude of heritage buildings the centre of the town is now protected. The town evolved from the 11villages that occupied the current territory of the town during the Middle Ages. Large landowning families and various religious orders played an important role in the development of Pápa as a city: the Franciscans settled here in 1475 and the Paulines in 1638. Reform doctrines swept in at the start of the Reformation. The first Hungarian translation of the Catechism of Heidelberg was printed in 1577.

Thus, after Sopron and Sárvár, this town became the third most important centre of Protestantism in Transdanubia. A Reformed Church school operated here as early as in 1531, which was later expanded with a faculty of theology and an academy of law. The castle of Pápa already stood in the 15th century, and in Turkish times it became part of the system of border fortresses. By the 19th century, Hungary's third most significant Jewish community had gathered and the third largest synagogue was built here in 1846.

Between 1929 and 1945 Pápa was a county town and from 1945 to 1983 a district town. World War II caused immeasurable losses. The palace and the synagogue were severely damaged, the archives were destroyed, and very few members of the large Jewish community survived. Pápa won the János Hild memorial medal in 1989 for restoration work in the town. After the change of the system the Reform Church and educational traditions were reawakened: a new grammar school was built, the Reformed College recommenced its activities and higher education began once again.