!!!Luftstreitkräfte

Air Force: At the beginning of the first World War the imperial army 
had 16 squadrons with only 39 operational aircraft. By the summer of 
1918, 74 fighter squadrons and 4 bombing squadrons with approximately 
900 aircraft had been formed under an airforce command. 
Reconnaissance, fighting and bombing missions were carried out in 
large numbers on all fronts until the end of the war in 1918. The 
imperial Navy also had their own air force (a glider corps from April 
1917). Balloons were mainly used for the observation of artillery.

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The peace treaty of Saint-Germain prohibited the Republic of Austria 
from maintaining an air force. Members of the army were not allowed to 
fly until 1927, later secret training courses were held at the flying 
school of Graz-Thalerhof. On June 1, 1935 the air force was organised 
under the command of Major General A. Loehr. By March 1938 the air 
force had approximately 50 fighting airplanes, 10 bombers, 20 
reconnaissance airplanes and 100 training and communication aircraft.

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By September 1955 a department for the establishment of air forces of 
the Federal Armed Forces of the 2%%sup nd/%  Republic had already been 
set up in the Office for National Defence. At first the air force was 
equipped with Soviet aircraft, by 1966 it had become a small, but 
effective airforce unit, which was particularly organised for 
cooperation with the armed forces.

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While jet combat planes were supplied by Sweden from 1961 (SAAB 
J 29 "Flying Tun", SAAB 105), the helicopter squadrons were 
equipped with French and American types (Alouette II, III; Agusta 
Bell 204, 206, 212). The first interceptors were not purchased until 
1985 (24 SAAB J 35 "Draken").

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On July 1, 1973 the air force units were dissolved in the course of an 
army reform; after a transition period during which the air force was 
commanded by the air brigade, an air division was set up on July 1, 
1975.

!Literature
W. Hainzl and E. Hauke, Die Fliegerkraefte Oesterreichs 
1955 bis heute, 1987.


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