Værnes Air Station

Værnes Air Station is located in Stjørdal Municipality, Trøndelag county, Norway, and is co-located with the civilian Trondheim Airport. The Royal Norwegian Army acquired the site in 1887, and it later served as the initial station for the Norwegian Army Air Service in Central Norway following the first flight at the location in March 1914. During the German occupation of Norway from 1940 to 1945, the Luftwaffe utilized the station as a bomber base. Control returned to the Royal Norwegian Air Force after the war, and the facility subsequently hosted various squadrons and the air force pilot school. In the 1950s, the station underwent NATO-funded expansions to support jet aircraft operations.

The Royal Norwegian Air Force operates the station, which houses the headquarters and training center for the Trøndelag District Home Guard (HV-12). Værnes is a designated site for the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway, providing storage and facilities for United States armed forces equipment. Although the station does not have aircraft permanently assigned to it, the facility handles several hundred military flight movements annually.

The military installations include barracks for 1,200 personnel and apron space designed to accommodate up to six aircraft of C-5 Galaxy dimensions. Most military infrastructure is situated on the north side of the airfield. While the Norwegian military maintains ownership of the runways and taxiways, these are operated by Avinor. Technical facilities include an instrument landing system and a radar network with installations at Vennafjell, Kopparen, Tronfjell, and Gråkallen.