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LimaMike

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  1. Not to my knowledge - but I'm only an armchair aviator, who's done a bit of reading (and listening to a few tall tales). According to one source Special Weapons mission profiles were flown, but I've newer seen photos or read/heard anything suggesting flights not to mention drops with dummy nukes. Interestingly this source also mentions, that Danish F-100 also flew "Snowcat Missions" - where they joined USAF F-100 from bases in the UK on nuclear training mission against targets in the Baltic Region. The purpose was to increase the number of tagets to raise the probability of then nuclear armed attackers got through to the target. A restored RDAF "Hun" - with out nukes.......
  2. Short answer – Danish F-100D Super Sabre pilots and ground crew from 727 Squadron received some training in special weapons handling and delivery from 1959 until 1961-62. All offensive “nuke” training was abandoned after this date. I remember reading about pilots flying with the eye patch – but can’t remember where or when. Looooong Answer - Joining NATO in 1949 Denmark insisted that no nuclear weapons were stored on Danish territory during peacetime. Danish politicians – foolishly – believed that this to some degree would protect the country from attack with nukes from the Warsaw Pact (as mentioned Polish General Staff plans suggests that Denmark would be targeted with seven nukes in the initial attack and 14 more would be on hand for further pummelling if needed). However the peace loving Danish Government – or rather the Danish Prime Minister H. C. Hansen secretly approved that the USAF stored special weapons on US bases on Greenland in 1959. This was illegal, since a majority in the Danish Parliament had made the “no nukes in peacetime” into law. Denmark received several nuclear capable weapons systems through the US military aid programme during the 50'ties and 60'ties (F-84G Thunderjet, F-100D Super Sabre, 203 mm howitzers, Honest John rockets and the Nike Hercules SAM-system) The US complained that it was a bad investment to donate weapon systems to Denmark, when they could not be deployed with the most effective weapons available for defence. The Danish government made a small concession and allowed some preparation for the use of nuke. - Building storage for nuclear weapons, and limited training of personnel – including pilots. The storage facilities for Special Weapons were built, but the operational training initiated in 1959 was abandoned in 1961. The MA-2 bombsight used for both low altitude (LABS) and high altitude bombing was degraded by removal of the vertical gyro to reduce maintenance cost. In 1962 an inventory of nuclear capable airframes and pylons revealed, that only a few aircraft could be deployed with nukes. Partly due to a limited number of suitable pylons, and partly due to the airframes wasn’t upgraded to carry a different nuclear capable type of pylon. The need to fix this problem apparently wasn’t a priority. Draken By the late 1960’ties the RDAF had to make up for the high attrition rate on the F-100D. Buying more from the US was not possible, because the USAF needed theirs in Vietnam. I caused quite stir in NATO, when Denmark chose the SAAB Draken as a replacement for one of the three F-100D-squadrons. Not only had Denmark chosen a non-NATO and neutral supplier. They had also chosen an airframe without the necessary systems to use nukes (and no chance in hell, it would be equipped to be). France and especially the US voiced their discontent loudly. Personally I suspect that the Danish politicians chose the Draken due to the significant offset deals promised by Sweden AND the fact it could not use the nasty US nukes. A fact I’m certain they didn’t fail to mention to the diplomats at the Soviet embassy in Copenhagen.
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