On 1 April 1959 JG 73 was formed at the former
RAF Ahlhorn and
Oldenburg, using
Canadair Sabre aircraft. In 1964
Close Air Support was added to the role of tasks with fighter-bomber support for the German Army. Thus a change of aircraft to
Fiat G.91 was conducted and the Wing was renamed to
Jagdbombergeschwader 42 (Fighter Bomber Wing 42). In 1967 Tactical Reconnaissance became another task of the Wing and a new renaming brought about the
Leichtes Kampfgeschwader 42 (Light Combat Wing 42). With the introduction of the
RF-4E to the
Luftwaffe in 1971, the Wing's role of reconnaissance became redundant and on 1 April 1975 the Wing was named
Jagdbombergeschwader 35 (Fighter Bomber Wing 35). After the
reunification of Germany in 1991, the Wing began to take over
MiG-29 aircraft from the
Air Forces of the National People's Army, the former East German Air Force. The East Germans had flown MiG-29s with
Jagdfliegergeschwader 3 at
Preschen Airfield. In October a test wing with MiG-29s was formed at Preschen and in February 1993 it was decided to merge this test wing with the then
Jagdbombergeschwader 35, to be named
Jagdgeschwader 73 once more. In 1994 the first MiGs were stationed at Laage to form an alert flight for Air Policing. The relocation of the F-4 Phantoms was eventually conducted in 1997 which meant the formal decommissioning of air base at Pferdsfeld. In September 1997, the joint operations of MiG-29s and F-4Fs were taken up at Laage. On 18 September 1997 the
Jagdgeschwader 73 was then officially commissioned by Minister of Defence
Volker Rühe. At the same time, Rühe awarded the name "
Steinhoff" to the re-formed wing. In March 2000 the 2nd Squadron (F-4F Phantom II) was decommissioned and after a short break it was then re-activated as a training squadron for the Eurofighter. JG 73 received its first six (twin-seat) Eurofighter Typhoons on 30 April 2004. Only a few months later, in August 2004, the last remaining MiG-29s in the
Luftwaffe were sold to
Poland where the majority continue to fly operationally with the
41st Tactical Squadron stationed at the
22nd Air Base in
Malbork (as of 2010). ==June 2019 accident==