Air tower

Air tower Bladel
Reminder of the Cold War
Watch, listen and pass! Was the motto of the Air Force Service Corps, who used this military watch tower during the Cold War to spot enemy-read Russian aircraft flying below the radar. The airwagon tower, codename "Cuba 1", was part of a network of 276 lookouts that spread between 1951 and 1956 across the country.

Ratsbouw
The tower was built in 1953 of prefab concrete building elements and is of type 11,64, a total of more than 13 m high. The tower is commissioned by Defense by architect Marten Zwaagstra. N.V. Schokbeton in Kampen provided the structural elements. Because aircraft were audible for up to 8 km, the posts were up to 16 km apart. Three posts together formed a circle.

Removal
Through faster aircraft and improved radar, aircraft and eye-catching aircraft became useless at the start of the 1960s. In 1968 the service was lifted. Of the 276 there are still 19 left.