RAF Fairford | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NearFairford,Gloucestershire in England | |||||||
.jpg) AUS Air ForceB-52H Stratofortress at RAF Fairford in 2019 | |||||||
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| Site information | |||||||
| Type | RAF station (US Visiting Forces) | ||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | US Air Force | ||||||
| Controlled by | US Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa | ||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
  RAF Fairford Location in Gloucestershire | |||||||
| Coordinates | 51°40′56″N001°47′24″W / 51.68222°N 1.79000°W /51.68222; -1.79000 | ||||||
| Grid reference | SP150990[1] | ||||||
| Area | 514.2 hectares (1,271 acres)[2] | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1943 (1943) | ||||||
| In use | 1944–1950 (Royal Air Force) 1950 – present (US Air Force) | ||||||
| Events | Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) | ||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||
| Occupants |
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| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: FFD,ICAO: EGVA,WMO: 036440 | ||||||
| Elevation | 87.1 metres (286 ft)AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
| Source: UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication[3] | |||||||
Royal Air Force Fairford or more simplyRAF Fairford (IATA:FFD,ICAO:EGVA) is aRoyal Air Force (RAF)station inGloucestershire, United Kingdom. While being an RAF station, Fairford hostsUnited States Air Force personnel. Since 2019, the base has played host to aLockheed U-2S Dragon Lady detachment from the99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. It is the USAF's only European airfield for heavy bombers and routinely supportsBomber Task Force (BTF) operations.[4][5] Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield forUnited States Air ForceB-52s during the 2003Iraq War,Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the firstGulf War in 1991.
RAF Fairford was the onlyTransOceanic Abort Landing site forNASA'sSpace Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing (the runway is 3,045 m (9,990 ft) long), it also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the airfield.[6] The runway is rated with an unrestricted load-bearing capacity, meaning that it can support any aircraft with any type of load.
RAF Fairford is also the home of theRoyal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), an annual air display. RIAT is one of the largest airshows in the world, with the 2003 show recognised byGuinness World Records as the largest militaryairshow ever, with an attendance of 535 aircraft.[7]
Construction started in 1943 as part of a programme to open fourteen airfields in southern England to be used by British and American troop carrier transports andgliders.[8][9] The station opened on 18 January 1944.[9] Initially intended to be operated by the United States forces, the first occupants arrived on 18 March when theRoyal Air Force'sNo.620 Squadron equipped with theShort Stirling Mk.IV moved fromRAF Leicester East, soon to be accompanied on 25 March byNo. 190 Squadron also operating the Stirling. The aircraft were used forairborne forces operations, performingparachute drops oftroops andsupplies and towingAirspeed Horsa assault gliders.[9] Troop carriers and gliders from Fairford were used for theD-Day invasion ofNormandy.[10] The RAF used it to lift British troops forOperation Market Garden.[11]
The following units were also here at some point:[12]
In the early years of theCold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAFStrategic Air Command (SAC) would be based in the UK. Bases had already been established in East Anglia, at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, but they were considered to be vulnerable to bomber attack and airfields further behind the RAF fighter defences were sought. Four RAF airfields were selected to receive SAC units:RAF Brize Norton, RAF Fairford,RAF Greenham Common andRAF Upper Heyford. In 1948 the Americans occupied RAF stations including Fairford, Brize Norton,Burtonwood, Greenham Common,Mildenhall,Lakenheath andWoodbridge to build up a deterrent in Europe against the Soviets.[13]
RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos. 30 and 47 Squadrons were transferred from their old base at RAF Fairford. In 1965, RAF Fairford was the first home base of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic TeamThe Red Arrows.[14]
In 1950, as a result of the beginning of theCold War, the airfield was transferred to theUnited States Air Force for strategic bomber operations. A 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway was constructed for long-range bomber operations.[13]
The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the firstConvair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft fromCarswell Air Force Base,Texas.[15] The airfield later receivedB-47s which were maintained at a heightened state of alert because of increased tensions with theSoviet Union.[16]
Due to the long runway Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for theConcorde aircraft until 1977.[17]
The U.S. Air Force returned withBoeing KC-135 Stratotankers deployed on rotation from the many KC-135 bases in the USA. On 15 November 1978 the11th Strategic Group (11 SG) was activated at RAF Fairford. It was not manned until the following February and used KC-135 aircraft and crews from SAC, Air National Guard, and AF Reserve units until the 11 SG received its own aircraft in September 1979. It soon began aerial refueling support for all USAF operations, deployments and redeployments, as well as participating inNATO exercises.[18]
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Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation. Aircraft and crews operated from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Keflavik, Iceland; Zaragosa, Spain; Lajes Field, Azores; Sigonella NAS, Italy; and Hellenikon, Greece. The unit retained the 11th Strategic Group designation, but was inactivated on 7 August 1990.[19]
KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supportedOperation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986. The KC-135s and KC-10s were withdrawn in 1990 and the station was returned to standby status, upgraded to 'limited use' in the mid-1990s.[20]
Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force. It was used in the firstGulf War in 1991, with B-52s and KC-135s fromEaker AFB in Arkansas. It was later used duringOperation Allied Force in 1999 when B-52s fromBarksdale AFB,B-1Bs fromEllsworth AFB and KC-135s fromMountain Home AFB were used.[21]
In the 2003Iraq War, Operation Iraqi Freedom included B-52s based atMinot AFB but flying from Fairford. In recent years the airfield has been occasionally used by AmericanB-2 Spirit stealth bombers and is frequently visited byU-2 aircraft.[22]
Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within aNATO country since the end of theCold War. This work lasted from May 2000 through May 2002.[13] Additional improvements continued until 2008, including the construction of two climate-controlled hangars for B-2 stealth bombers and a low-observability maintenance dock.[23]
On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group (420 ABG) was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units (GSUs) that had been aligned beneath the100th Air Refueling Wing atRAF Mildenhall. These units are assigned to airfields at RAF Fairford,RAF Croughton,RAF Alconbury, andRAF Molesworth. The 420 ABG reported directly toThird Air Force until 26 May 2004, when the 38th Combat Support Wing (38 CSW) was established atSembach Annex, Germany.[24]
The construction of two climate-controlled hangars was completed in December 2004. At a cost of £12.2 million ($19 million), the hangars were designed to accommodate the B-2A Spirit and allow for maintenance of its specialistlow-observable coating.[25]
On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters atRAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.[26]
In 2010 USAF withdrew all its uniformed staff from the station by September 2010 leaving a civilian operating unit to maintain the base on a "care and maintenance" basis. However the base remains a designated standby airfield for heavy bomber operations, capable of immediate reactivation within 24–48 hours and it continues to host the Royal International Air Tattoo every July.[27]
In September 2014 Fairford was used as the staging base for USPresident Obama's trip to the NATO conference held in Newport, Wales.VC-25A "Air Force 1" (AF1) aircraft carrying the President and his entourage and support aircraft arrived on 3 September, the US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry also arrived in his own USAFC-32 aircraft. Air Force One with President Obama departed for Washington 5 September after an 'impromptu' visit to Stonehenge on his way from Newport back to RAF Fairford.[28]
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Since June 2014 RAF Fairford has seen regular heavy bomber exercises return with B-52H, B-2A and in September 2016, B-1B aircraft for short duration exercises by Air Force Global Strike Command and US Air Force Reserve units from Barksdale, Minot, Whiteman and Dyess Air Force Bases. These exercises include participation in NATO exercises Baltops, Saber Strike and Ample Strike. Baltops, mainly a maritime exercise, takes place off the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, while Saber Strike saw the B-52s flying close air support missions in Poland. Taking advantage of B-52 deployment in 2014 were two flights of two B-2 Spirits, which made brief visits to Fairford as part of Global Power training flights. The Ample Strike exercise in September 2016 was the first time that US Air Force Reserve had deployed two types of heavy bombers (B-1Bs and B-52Hs) under the same parent operating Wing (307BW).[29] March 2019 saw the largest deployment of B-52Hs to RAF Fairford since Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, when six bombers arrived from the2nd Bomb Wing.[30][31]
In November 2018, it was announced that the95th Reconnaissance Squadron and 488th Intelligence Squadron would relocate to Fairford by 2024. The squadrons, based atRAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, are both part of the55th Operations Group and supportBoeing RC-135 surveillance aircraft when forward deployed on temporary duty to the UK from the United States. The move, part of the USDepartment of Defense'sEuropean Infrastructure Consolidation programme, was expected to see 500 personnel and RC-135 operations transfer to Fairford.[32] However, in December the proposal was cancelled and it was confirmed that Mildenhall would be retained as the RC-135's UK operating location.[33]
In September 2019, the99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron (99th ERS) began aLockheed U-2S Dragon Lady detachment fromBeale Air Force Base, California.[34]
On 22 August 2020, sixB-52H bombers from the23rd Bomb Squadron,5th Bomb Wing,Minot AFB deployed to RAF Fairford for a series of exercises withNATO and allied countries.[35][36] On 28 August 2020, in a single-day mission dubbed 'Allied Sky', B-52Hs overflew all 30 NATO countries; four of the six B-52Hs deployed at RAF Fairford flew the European portion whilst two Minot-based B-52Hs flew over the United States and Canada.[37]
TheDefence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) acquired 43.87 hectares (108.4 acres) of land to north east of RAF Fairford in November 2000. Planning permission was granted August 2021 to allow the land to be incorporated into the station boundary. Previously part of Horcott Quarry, the land forms part of theCotswold Water Park lake system which is designated as asite of special scientific interest. The DIO indicated that the land would be used to enhance station security and improvebird hazard management, as well as for military exercises and recreation.[38]
Between December 2021 and December 2022, work was undertaken to resurface taxiways and aircraft parking stands located in the north eastern part of the airfield. Over 1,200m of taxiway surfacing was replaced, with two parking stands removed and eleven replaced. Drainage infrastructure and airfield ground lighting were also upgraded.[39]
In February 2022, four B-52H bombers from the69th Bomb Squadron were deployed to RAF Fairford for six weeks.[40]
In August 2024, aNorthrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk deployed to and operated from RAF Fairford for the first time.[41]
RAF Fairford is owned by the BritishMinistry of Defence. Although designated as an RAF station, it is made available to theUS Department of Defense under the 1951 NATOStatus of Forces Agreement and other arrangements. The use of the station for combat operations is a joint decision between the British and US governments.[42]
Security outside the perimeter of the station is the responsibility of theMinistry of Defence Police, whereas security within the station is provided by the US Visiting Forces.[42][43]
On 1 April 2006, RAF Fairford was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of theSerious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. The effect of the act was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person totrespass into the station.[44]
RAF Fairford is aForward Operating Location made available to the United States by theUK Government. It is the only bomber forward operating location in Europe and is predominately used by US Air Force deployments of theB-1B Lancer,B-2A Spirit andB-52H Stratofortress aircraft taking part inAir Force Global Strike Command'sBomber Task Force missions.[45][46]
TheUS Air Force's 421st Air Base Squadron provides Menwith Hill with base and mission support services. The squadron is part of the423rd Air Base Group which in turn is part of the501st Combat Support Wing, both of which have their headquarters atRAF Alconbury inCambridgeshire.[47]
Since September 2019, Fairford has hosted a detachment ofU-2S Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft, operated by the 99th ERS.[48]
Base and mission support is provided by the 420th Air Base Squadron, a Geographically Separate Unit of the501st Combat Support Wing based atRAF Alconbury inCambridgeshire.[46]
Notable units based at RAF Fairford.[49][48]
United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA)
Air Combat Command (ACC)
The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), is held annually at Fairford over the third weekend in July. RIAT is held in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust and has attracted an attendance of up to 185,000 spectators over the weekend, with several hundred military aircraft belonging to air-arms from around the world taking part in static and flying displays.[51]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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