GKEmedium airport

Geilenkirchen Air Base

Geilenkirchen, Germany

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ICAO

ETNG

Elevation

296 ft

The gateway in a glance

The Essence of Geilenkirchen Air Base

GKE

Location

Geilenkirchen · NW · Germany

Position

50.961°, 6.042° · 296 ft elev.

Visa & Entry

Schengen Visa (C), National Visa (D)Official

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NATO's only multinational E-3A AWACS base in Europe.

Opened

1968

Location

Geilenkirchen, Germany

Geilenkirchen Air Base (IATA: GKE, ICAO: ETNG) is a military airfield located near the town of Geilenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It serves as the home base of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF), operating the Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS aircraft under a multinational NATO command structure. The base is not open to commercial civilian traffic and functions exclusively as a NATO military installation. Personnel from numerous NATO member nations are stationed here, making it one of the most internationally diverse military bases in the alliance. The airfield supports regular AWACS training and operational missions across Europe and beyond.

Notable facts

›Home to the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF) operating Boeing E-3A Sentry aircraft.
›Personnel from approximately 17 NATO nations are stationed at the base.
›The E-3A aircraft at Geilenkirchen carry NATO markings rather than any individual nation's insignia.
›The base is located close to the Dutch and Belgian borders in the tri-border region.
›Geilenkirchen is the only permanently multinational NATO flying base in the world.

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Encyclopaedia

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located near Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the main operating base of the NATO Boeing E-3 Sentry Component, one of two operational elements of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force.

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