Nederlandse Modelbouw en Luchtvaartsite

KDC-10 employed by the KLu

Both Dutch KDC-10's are used for refuelling and transport. They are stationed at Eindhoven Airport, at 334 Squadron. Of the 5500 flight hours in the first three years, the aircraft were used for half of the time as tankers. In addition to the commitment to the air force and NATO allies, the KDC-10s are also used for peace missions and humanitarian aid operations. In the first three years 32% of flight hours were spent on this.

Yugoslavia

The two Dutch KDC-10 tankers flew from the 6th of November 1996 on average three times a week to the Adriatic Sea to fuel IFOR aircraft in the air. The IFOR, a peacekeeping force led by NATO, was to monitor compliance with the cease-fire and to respect the border between the Serbian and Muslim-Croatian powers by both parties.

IFOR came up with violence if hostilities would break out again. The first deployment of the KDC-10s during the operation was Decisive Endeavor . The Operation Decisive Endeavor was transferred to the Deliberate Guard operation on 20 December 1996. On 15 June 1998, the name of the operation was changed to Deliberate Forge .

NATO decided in December 2000, following the normalization of air traffic over Bosnia-Herzegovina, to reduce the strength of the BKAC from 41 to 22 aircraft. Belgium and the Netherlands halved their contribution of fighter aircraft, which reduced the deployment of the KDC-10. However, NATO could call on a KDC-10 and an F-60 for the transport of wounded.

Pakistan - South Asia Survey 2005

The Royal Netherlands Air Force was closely involved in assisting the victims of the earthquake in South Asia on 26 December 2005. A KDC-10 of the Royal Netherlands Air Force was first deployed to transfer injured Dutch tourists to their home country. The KDC-10 returned during New Year's Eve.

On Monday, January 3, 2005, a C-130 Hercules left for Estonia to pick up an emergency hospital and a medical team from the Red Cross. The next day this emergency hospital was transferred to a KDC-10, which flies to Indonesia with twenty tons of relief supplies.

The KDC-10 first flew to Medan where the emergency hospital and the medical team were unloaded. After this the aircraft flew to Batan to unload the twenty tons of relief goods. The KDC-10 subsequently loaded 25 tons of relief supplies in Karachi (Pakistan). These goods were finally delivered in Colombo (Sri Lanka). The plane returned to Eindhoven Air Base the same week.

Haiti (2010)

On Thursday morning, January 14, 2010, a KDC-10 departed from Eindhoven Air Base to Haiti. On board was a rescue team that would help track down people buried under the rubble in an area hit by the earthquake.

Other deployments

In the past, the KDC-10 has been used, among other things, for the transport of relief goods and medicines in the Sumatra, Pakistan and Iran, which were hit by natural disasters. The transport plane also evacuated Dutch people from Lebanon in 2006 when a conflict broke out there.

The aircraft were deployed during the Kosovo crisis to evacuate refugees, to the Caribbean and America to offer assistance after hurricanes Luis, Georges and Mitch, and to various countries in Africa and Asia to provide development assistance. In 1998, the aircraft were used to evacuate Dutch from Indonesia during the fall of Suharto. Dutch KDC-10s operated from Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan to support Allies during Operation Enduring Freedom .

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 1996 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Twenthe.

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 1996 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Twenthe.

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 1996 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Twenthe.

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 2008 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Leeuwarden.

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 2008 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Leeuwarden.

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 2014 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Gilze-Rijen. Note the 70 Years 334 Squadron marking on the tail. Also the earlier white markings are replaced by black ones.

McDonnell-Douglas (K)DC-10, T-235, photographed in June 2014 at the Open Day Dutch Air Force at airbase Gilze-Rijen.