Nationaal Militair Museum Soesterberg

There are not many places where the history of an entire air force hangs on a single airfield. Soesterberg is one of them. Here, between Utrecht and Amersfoort, the Dutch army’s first aircraft took off in 1913; later, German bomber crews were stationed here, and during the Cold War American fighter pilots sat on alert. Since 2014, the Nationaal Militair Museum (NMM) has stood on the site – a building with an enormous flat roof under which fighter jets float as if frozen in the middle of air combat. For spotters, the NMM is less a place for movements than one for rarities, serials and unusual perspectives.

Soesterberg: the cradle of Dutch military aviation

Even before World War I, private flight pioneers used the heathland near Soesterberg. On July 1, 1913, the Dutch army founded its Luchtvaartafdeeling there, the army’s aviation department – the direct forerunner of today’s Koninklijke Luchtmacht. On the museum grounds stands Gebouw 45, a building considered the oldest aviation building in the Netherlands.

In May 1940, the German Wehrmacht occupied the base and turned it into an air base. The Luftwaffe first stationed Heinkel He 111 bombers there, later Dornier Do 217s. Allied formations attacked the field again and again. When the German troops withdrew in the spring of 1945, the base was badly damaged. A memorial in the woods commemorates 33 resistance fighters whom the occupiers secretly shot there.

Cold War: Camp New Amsterdam

From 1951, Soesterberg was operational again, and three years later the Americans arrived. In November 1954, a US fighter squadron with F-86 Sabres arrived; in 1958 it became the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, the “Wolfhounds.” Their part of the airfield was called Camp New Amsterdam. Over the decades, the squadron flew F-100 Super Sabres, F-102 Delta Daggers, from 1969 the F-4 Phantom II and from 1978 the F-15 Eagle. On September 27, 1994, the US handed its part of the base back to the Netherlands.

After that, Soesterberg was a helicopter base of the Luchtmacht – among other things for the Chinook that now stands in the museum. Budget cuts sealed the end: on November 12, 2008, military flight operations ended, the base closed at the end of the year, and the helicopter squadrons moved to Gilze-Rijen.

Two museums, one new building

The NMM has two predecessors. The older is the air force museum, which opened on July 3, 1968 in a hangar at Soesterberg air base. In 1980 it moved to nearby Kamp van Zeist and was henceforth called the Militaire Luchtvaart Museum; it also showed naval aviation and the aviation of the former colonial army in the Dutch East Indies. Admission was free back then, and many spotters still know the place from that time. The second predecessor was the Legermuseum in Delft, the army museum. Both closed in 2013, and their collections moved into the new building.

On December 11, 2014, King Willem-Alexander opened the Nationaal Militair Museum, and the first visitors came two days later. The museum sits in the northeastern part of the former base, where the hangars once stood. The grounds cover about 45 hectares.

A roof like an airfield

Architecturally, the NMM is a statement. The design is by Dick van Wageningen, with landscape planning and exhibition design handled by other firms. The roof is the defining feature: a flat surface of about 110 by 250 meters, carried by a steel lattice structure on which, according to project details, more than 3,000 solar panels sit. The glass front is 13 meters high. Beneath it is an enclosed “black box” with exhibition rooms and the treasury, and next to it opens the big hall – the Arsenaal. In 2016, the building won the Dutch Nationale Staalprijs.

The table reflects the situation as of October 2026. Special exhibitions and displays change, so check the museum’s notices before your visit.

The Arsenaal: fighter jets in air combat

When you enter the Arsenaal, you understand why photographers stay here a long time. According to the museum, 19 aircraft hang from the ceiling. The highlight is a staged air combat scene: seven different fighter jets are hung so that they seem to be circling each other. Below them stand tanks, guns, armored vehicles and engines – and, as a curiosity, even a folding bicycle. Large windows open the view onto the old airfield.

The museum doesn’t list individually on its overview pages which types hang where. The holdings largely come from the former Militaire Luchtvaart Museum. Its collection included, among others, a Spitfire, a B-25 Mitchell, a full-size replica of the Fokker G.I, Republic F-84 Thunderjets and Thunderstreaks in several versions, a Hawker Hunter, an F-104G Starfighter, an F-4E Phantom, an F-15A Eagle and a MiG-21. Not every one of these aircraft is necessarily on view in the Arsenaal today – some may be in storage. If you’re interested in a particular airframe, search the NMM’s online collection beforehand.

The F-16 J-063: the “MiG killer”

The museum itself singles out one aircraft: the F-16A with the serial J-063. On March 24, 1999, shortly after NATO’s Operation Allied Force began in the Kosovo War, then-Major Peter Tankink shot down a Yugoslav MiG-29 with an AMRAAM missile in this aircraft. The enemy pilot ejected safely. According to the museum, it is the only air-to-air victory of a Dutch fighter aircraft since World War II. A painted MiG silhouette commemorates it.

The F-16 has a special role in Soesterberg anyway. For the type’s 50th anniversary, the NMM showed the exhibition “F-16: 50 jaar Fast Forward” until January 2024, which continues today as a virtual tour. In November 2023, the two-seat test F-16B J-066 “Orange Jumper” also joined the collection. How to tell the F-16, Gripen and the rest apart in the field is explained in the article Recognizing fighter jets in Europe.

The Chinook D-663 you can climb into

The second crowd favorite is on the ground: a CH-47D Chinook with the serial D-663. The transport helicopter, which the museum describes as the “workhorse of the air force,” has returned to its former home base. On fixed open days – usually the last Sunday of the month – you can climb in while volunteers tell you about everyday operations. For the rest of 2026, the NMM lists October 25, November 29 and December 27, each with the regular museum ticket. Dates can shift, so check beforehand.

Park Vliegbasis Soesterberg: the airfield on foot

Around the museum lies the Park Vliegbasis Soesterberg. In 2018, the foundation Het Utrechts Landschap bought about 400 hectares of the former base and has since looked after nature and cultural heritage – except for the museum grounds and Camp New Amsterdam, which is still used by the military. The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset and free of charge.

For aviation fans, it’s a special walk. The main runway 09/27, about three kilometers long, is still there, as are shelters, ammunition bunkers and other Cold War relics. At the Luchtmacht-Monument, the air force remembers its dead. From the museum’s observation tower, which you reach by elevator up to the sixth floor, you overlook the whole site and, in clear weather, even Utrecht.

Gliding as the last flight operation

The field isn’t completely quiet. The Amsterdamsche Club voor Zweefvliegen has flown from Soesterberg since 1946, and the northern part of the runway is still used for gliding. On the club’s flying days, you do see takeoffs and landings – no more fighter jets, but real movements on a historic military airfield. You can’t plan it precisely; it depends on weather and club operations.

Photography at the NMM

The big hall is both a gift and a challenge. Aircraft hanging from the ceiling can be seen from angles that would never be possible on an apron – from below at wings and weapons stations, from the gallery almost at eye level. At the same time, it’s hard to get an aircraft into the frame cleanly and completely.

Wide angle instead of telephoto

Unlike at an airport fence, you need hardly any focal length here. A standard zoom and a wide-angle lens are the most important lenses, and for the air combat scene you can barely avoid a wide angle of view. Keep an eye on converging verticals and distorted fuselages at the edge of the frame. The article Wide-angle and standard lenses shows what works in spotting with short focal lengths.

Light, glass and height

The 13-meter-high glass front brings a lot of daylight into the hall, but depending on the sun position it can cause backlight and reflections. Try different vantage points: from elevated levels, hanging jets often look more dynamic, while from the floor you get the undersides with wheel wells and stores. A higher ISO setting is normal indoors and usually better than blurry pictures.

Whether it’s a Starfighter, a Thunderjet or a Hunter isn’t always obvious at first glance. The article Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky can help. If you want to see active military aircraft after your museum visit, you’ll find the rules in the article on photographing at military airfields and planning tips in the article Tracking military aircraft online.

Planning your visit: hours, tickets and getting there

According to its own website, the NMM is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including on most public holidays. It is closed on King’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day. On Mondays, it opens only during parts of the Dutch school holidays, for example the fall break from October 10 to 25, 2026. Adults pay €19.50, children ages 4 to 12 pay €11, and younger children pay nothing. With the Museumkaart, admission is free. Online tickets are cheaper according to the museum (all as of October 2026).

The address is Verlengde Paltzerweg 1, 3768 MX Soest. If you drive, you park for free right at the museum. Without a car, take bus 575 from Driebergen-Zeist or Soest-Zuid stations – according to the museum, it doesn’t run on Sundays. The grounds are large, so expect long walks.

Soesterberg on your Netherlands tour

The NMM is the counterpart to the Aviodrome in Lelystad, which focuses more on civil aviation. Together, the two give a good picture of Dutch aviation history – and because Fokker plays a role in both, the profile of the manufacturer Fokker is also worth a look. At the Aviodrome, you can also keep an eye on Lelystad Airport, as the spot guide to the Aviodrome at Lelystad Airport shows. You’ll find the practical details on the museum grounds as a spot in the guide to the NMM at the former Soesterberg airfield.

Because no scheduled aircraft land at Soesterberg anymore, a side trip to an active airport fits well. The most obvious is Schiphol. The classics are the Spotterplaats at the Polderbaan and the Panoramaterras; the article Plane spotting at Schiphol gives an overview. To the south, Eindhoven Airport is a good option.

If you want to compare large military collections, you’ll find similar institutions abroad: the Royal Army Museum in Brussels, the Military History Museum Berlin-Gatow, the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil, the RAF Museum Cosford and IWM Duxford, where warbirds even still fly. You’ll see flying military jets at flying days and airshows; the article Airshows in Europe for plane spotters gives an overview. And if you want to pitch in yourself, the article on volunteering in aviation museums shows how.

Conclusion

The Nationaal Militair Museum stands on one of the most historic airfields in the Netherlands. Where the country’s military aviation began in 1913 and American Phantoms and Eagles stood on alert until 1994, a huge hall now shows the showpieces of the Dutch air force – staged, hanging and from unusual angles. The F-16 J-063 with its 1999 air-to-air victory and the Chinook you can walk through make more recent history tangible.

As a pure spotter destination for movements, Soesterberg is no longer worth it. But as a museum visit with a photo series, combined with a walk along the old runway and a side trip to Schiphol or Lelystad, it is one of the most rewarding days you can plan in the Netherlands.