Base aérienne 118 Mont-de-Marsan (Colonel Rozanoff)

Base aérienne 118 "Colonel Rozanoff" is a military air base of the French Air and Space Force located in Mont-de-Marsan, in the Landes department. Covering approximately 670 hectares, it is one of the largest air bases in France, with a perimeter of 15 km. It hosts over 600 buildings, 66 units, and approximately 3,500 personnel. The base features a 3,600-meter-long runway and stations around fifty aircraft.

The history of aviation at Mont-de-Marsan began in 1911 with the creation of a committee to establish an airfield. An airfield, the embryo of the future air base, was created in 1932 and inaugurated in 1934. During World War II, the airfield was requisitioned by the German army. Between September and October 1940, German fighter planes like Messerschmitt Bf 109s were stationed there. From 1941, the Luftwaffe constructed a 2,000-meter concrete runway, hangars, repair workshops, and dispersed storage alveoli. The site became the most important in the southwest for the duration of the conflict, used for Atlantic surveillance and bombing missions against England. The base was bombed by American Consolidated B-24 Liberators on March 27, 1944.

On July 15, 1945, the airfield became the Mont-de-Marsan air base, and was designated BA 118 in December 1948. The Centre d'expériences aériennes militaires (CEAM) was established there. From 1958, BA 118 was tasked with air defense missions, including the Zone Operations Center and the Detection and Control Center (CDC) in 1969. In 1964, the base was assigned a strategic nuclear deterrence mission with the deployment of Mirage IV units (DAMS 16-004), a mission that ended with the dissolution of DAMS 16-004 on June 30, 2011. On July 20, 1985, the base was named "Colonel Rozanoff". Training missions began in 1986 with the transfer of the Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Instruction Center (CICDA).

In 1991, 100 French military personnel from the base were deployed for the Gulf War, and Mont-de-Marsan hosted American military personnel and equipment. In 2011, the base hosted 25 Mirage F1s from the 2/33 reconnaissance squadron. In 2012, the SAMP-T "Mamba" system was put into service, and the 2/30 Normandie-Niémen fighter regiment, equipped with Rafale aircraft, was transferred. The 3/30 "Lorraine" fighter squadron, also equipped with Rafales, arrived in September 2016. In 2019, BA 118 hosted the NATO Tiger Meet and Garuda VI exercises.

Key units stationed at the base include the 30th Fighter Wing, which operates the Rafale and comprises the 2/30 Normandie-Niémen fighter regiment, the 3/30 "Lorraine" fighter squadron, and the 1/30 "Côte d'argent" fighter and experimentation squadron. The Centre d’expertise aérienne militaire (CEAM) focuses on the study, experimentation, and definition of future uses for new equipment. It includes the 1/30 Côte d'Argent fighter and experimentation squadron and the 07/330 electronic warfare programming and instruction squadron (EPIGE). The Centre d’expertise et d’instruction des liaisons de données tactiques (CEILDT) was created in 2012 to enhance the effectiveness of forces in using Link-16. The base also hosts various support and defense squadrons, including the 12.950 Tursan surface-to-air defense squadron, equipped with SAMP/T Mamba (Aster 30) systems.