Ørland Main Air Station (Ørland hovedflystasjon)

Ørland Main Air Station is located at the mouth of the Trondheimsfjorden in Ørland Municipality, Trøndelag, Norway. German occupation forces established the airfield in 1941 using prisoner of war labor to interdict Allied convoys. During the occupation, the site hosted Focke-Wulf Fw 200, Junkers Ju 87, Messerschmitt Bf 109, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 aircraft. A second runway was completed in 1944. The facility closed in 1946 but reopened as a permanent deployment airfield in 1950. It was expanded to accommodate NATO forces in 1954, the same year 338 Squadron rebased to the station. A surface-to-air missile battery was established in 1958, followed by a detachment from 330 Squadron in 1970. In 1983, the station was modified to support NATO E-3A AWACS operations. The Norwegian parliament designated Ørland as the principal air base of Norway in 2012.

The Royal Norwegian Air Force operates the station. 132 Air Wing is the primary tenant unit, comprising 331 Squadron and 332 Squadron, which operate F-35A Lightning II fighters. The wing also includes an air defense battalion equipped with NASAMS III, a base defense battalion, and maintenance and logistics units. 330 Squadron maintains a detachment of AgustaWestland AW101 search and rescue helicopters at the site. Other resident organizations include the Norwegian Cyber Defence Force and the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization.

The station functions as a forward operating location for NATO E-3A Sentry AWACS aircraft and is the only facility on the Scandinavian Peninsula equipped with ground handling infrastructure for this type. The base provides facilities and prepositioned equipment for United States Marine Corps fixed-wing aircraft under the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway. Civil aviation is conducted by a local aviation club from a designated section of the airport.