Séchault, Ardennes, FR 🇫🇷 Closed Airport
FR-0345
-
385 ft
FR-GES
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 49.276839° N, 4.754076° E
Continent: EU
Type: Closed Airport
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The base was officially returned to French control on April 1, 1967. The French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) had no use for it, and it was closed and sold to private interests shortly thereafter, likely between the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Military and political realignment. The primary reason for closure was France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command in 1966. This decision led to the expulsion of all US and NATO forces from French territory. As Vouziers-Séchault was a USAFE (United States Air Forces in Europe) designated base, it was handed over to the French military, which deemed it surplus to their requirements and subsequently closed it.
The site has been completely repurposed and is now home to one of France's largest photovoltaic power stations, the Séchault Solar Farm (Parc photovoltaïque de Séchault), operated by EDF Renewables. The solar panels are installed directly on top of the former runway, taxiways, and aircraft dispersal pads. The original layout of the airfield, including the distinctive 'marguerite' hardstands, remains clearly visible from satellite imagery, with the solar arrays conforming to their shapes.
Vouziers-Séchault Air Base was a significant Cold War military installation. It was constructed between 1952 and 1955 as part of a NATO infrastructure program to build a network of airfields to defend Western Europe against the Soviet Union. It was designed as a Dispersed Operating Base (DOB), intended to support tactical fighter-bomber wings from USAFE's Twelfth Air Force. Specifically, it was designated to support the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing (based at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base) in the event of war. The base featured a standard NATO design with a 2,400-meter (7,900 ft) runway, taxiways, and a 'marguerite' or 'daisy' system of circular, hardened aircraft dispersal pads designed to protect aircraft from attack. Although fully constructed and maintained in a 'bare-base' (standby) status, it was never permanently garrisoned with USAFE flying units.
There are zero prospects for reopening the site as an airport. The complete and long-term redevelopment of the entire airfield surface into a major solar power plant makes any future aviation use impossible without the complete removal of the multi-million euro energy infrastructure, which is not a feasible scenario.