The Quest for Relevant Air Power

246 │ ROYAL NETHERLANDS Air Force
ment agreed to a NATO request and put six Apache combat helicopters
at the disposal of ISAF in Afghanistan. 120 Reportedly, these
helicopters measurably increased the ISAF’s self-protection and
reconnaissance capabilities. 121 Moreover, on 21 May 2004, it was
announced that the Netherlands would send six Apache combat
helicopters to Iraq to provide the Dutch ground contingent with
enhanced situational awareness and firepower. 122 While Dutch
forces pulled out of Iraq in the spring of 2005, Dutch Apaches returned
to Afghanistan in April 2006, supporting ISAF operations. 123
Humanitarian Operations and Troop Deployments
The RNLAF has also played a role in humanitarian relief and
crisis management operations throughout the 1990s and beyond.
Though very modest at the outset of the post–Cold War era,
RNLAF airlift capacities have grown over the years from small
transport planes such as the Fokker F-27s to larger aircraft such as
the C-130 Hercules and the KDC-10 strategic airlift and air-to-air
refuelling aircraft.
After the collapse of the Berlin Wall and in the wake of Desert
Storm, humanitarian relief missions targeted Eastern Europe and
the Middle East. With the advent of the first C-130 Hercules, the
RNLAF was able to shift its attention to hot spots in Africa and
elsewhere. The genocide in Rwanda triggered a considerable number
of Dutch C-130 airlift sorties. 124 Combining combat support
and humanitarian missions, the RNLAF’s transport aircraft fleet
has excelled in flexibility. During Allied Force, for instance, an
RNLAF KDC-10 conducted an air-to-air refuelling mission over
the Adriatic and subsequently flew to Macedonia, evacuating
refugees to the Netherlands. 125 The RNLAF has also conducted
relief missions in the wake of natural disasters. When the city of
Bam in Iran was shattered by a heavy earthquake in late 2003, a
KDC-10 transport aircraft delivered 45 tonnes of emergency relief
supplies on behalf of the Netherlands Red Cross. 126
Supporting operations in Afghanistan, the RNLAF maintained
an air bridge to Kabul from January to February 2002. 127 Additionally,
it airlifted German troops to Afghanistan. 128 Not only fixed
wing but also rotary wing assets have contributed to stabilisation
operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. 129