| Holbeach Air Weapons Range | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NearGedney Drove End,Lincolnshire in England | |||||||
 The range control tower at Holbeach AWR | |||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Type | Air weapons range | ||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | Defence Infrastructure Organisation | ||||||
| Controlled by | Defence Training Estate | ||||||
| Open to the public | Yes, unless red warning flags or red lights are shown | ||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||
| No. of targets | Eight | ||||||
| Website | GOV.UK (Air weapons ranges activity times) | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
  Holbeach AWR Location in the Lincolnshire | |||||||
| Coordinates | 52°51′17.42″N0°10′14.71″E / 52.8548389°N 0.1707528°E /52.8548389; 0.1707528 | ||||||
| Area | 3,875 hectares (39 km2; 15 sq mi) | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1926 (1926) | ||||||
| In use | 1926 – present | ||||||
| Designations | |||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: EGYH,WMO: 034690 | ||||||
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Holbeach Air Weapons Range is a United KingdomMinistry of Defenceacademic air weapons range (AWR) situated betweenBoston andKing's Lynn in the civil parish ofGedney onThe Wash, inLincolnshire, easternEngland.[1][2][3]
It was originally associated withRAF Sutton Bridge, but in the 1950s was namedRoyal Air Force Holbeach before adopting its current name in the mid 2000s when control was passed to theDefence Training Estate.
The remote air range opened in 1926 as an air gunnery range attached to and established byRoyal Air Force Practice CampSutton Bridge (later namedRAF Sutton Bridge).[4][5][6][7] Use of the range began on 27 September 1926, withbiplanes firing and dropping bombs over the area formally known as "Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range",[6][7] and colloquially simply asHolbeach Marsh Range.[5]
During the late 1950s, when RAF Sutton Bridge was reduced to a care and maintenance role, the coastal marshland air gunnery range was renamed to RAF Holbeach Bombing Range and it became later parented toRAF Marham as an Air Weapons Range (AWR) withinRAF Strike Command. On 1 April 2006 the defence estates' administration was transferred to theMinistry of Defence—Defence Training Estate East (DTE East), located at West Tofts Camp inWest Tofts nearThetford inNorfolk; now renamedDefence Infrastructure Organisation East (DIO East).[1]
DIO are responsible for operational support—planning, building, maintaining and servicing the 'Holbeach Air Weapons Range' infrastructure.[8] The air range estate is administered at a local level by a DIO Training Safety Officer (TSO), who is responsible for the day-to-day delivery of a safe training environment.RAF Air Command, who is the top level budget holder, control the core RAF station site which encompasses an area of 716 hectares.[9][10] RAFair traffic control personnel staff the air rangecontrol tower supported by civilian range staff outsourced to Landmarc Solutions.[11]
The range extends over an area of 3,875 ha (14.96 sq mi), which includes 3,100 hectares of intertidalmudflats and 775 hectares ofsalt marsh,[1][2] the air weapons range provides facilities for RAF andNATO-allied aircraft to practise droppingbombs and firing their aircraft weapons, including pre-deployment training.[3] Since 1993 this has included night bombing and helicopter operations.[1] The range training facilities are used by air force squadrons stationed in the United Kingdom and occasionally by units flying directly fromairbases in Europe. An array of eight static range targets,[1] include several retiredmerchant ships which have been beached on the sands of The Wash for this purpose. Observation towers ("Quadrants") parallel to the target line are manned and allow the fall ofaircraft ordnance to be calculated for accuracy by means oftriangulation.[11] The range includes a helicopter landing pad near the main control tower and since 2010 a new range headquarters building.[3]
Most of the air range, including the control tower and four observation towers (Quadrants)[11] are in the parish hamlets of Dawsmere andGedney Drove End, but it does overlap withHolbeach to the west.[2] On UKCivil Aviation Authority issuedaeronautical charts the military Danger Area is found marked and identified by the code WRDA D207/II[12] or theICAO code EG D207 (Weapons Range Danger Area or United Kingdom Danger - 207), the dangeraltitude is usually up to twenty-three thousand feetAMSL.
In the past Holbeach Air Gunnery Bombing Range has served the intense activity of many types of British and foreign military aircraft using its target training range facilities. For example, from now historical propellerbiplane types such as theArmstrong Whitworth Siskin,Hawker Woodcock,Gloster Grebe,Gloster Gamecock,Fairey III,Fairey Flycatcher,Bristol Bulldog,Hawker Fury andGloster Gauntlet.[13] Then theBristol Blenheim,Fairey Battle,Hawker Hurricane,Supermarine Spitfire,de Havilland Mosquito,Westland Lysander,North American P-51 Mustang andGrumman Avenger, to now decommissioned succeeding jet aircraft types such as theGloster Meteor,English Electric Canberra,de Havilland Venom,Hawker Hunter, USAFF-100D Super Sabre,Blackburn Buccaneer,McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, USAFGeneral Dynamics F-111 Aardvark,Harrier jump jet,SEPECAT Jaguar andPanavia Tornado, to name a few. Including, the still in service USAFF-16 Fighting Falcon, USAFB-1 Lancer, USAFB-2 Spirit,[14]IAFSukhoi Su-35, USAFHH-60G Pave Hawk (from56th Rescue Squadron) and USAFA-10 Thunderbolt.[11]
At the present time current aircraft types such as theEurofighter Typhoon,Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II (No. 617 Squadron RAF), USAFMcDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle/F-15E Strike Eagle (from48th Fighter Wing),BAE Hawk trainer[15] andAgustaWestland Apache AH1 helicopters can be seen operating on the range at various times of the day, including on occasions USAFBell Boeing CV-22B Osprey (from7th Special Operations Squadron), USAFLockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II (495th Fighter Squadron),Boeing Chinook,AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat,AugustaWestland Merlin andAerospatiale Puma HC helicopters.[1][16] The range also hosts frequentforward air control (FAC) orjoint terminal attack controller (JTAC) exercises.[11]
RAF Holbeach also has facilities (strafing courts) for scoring aircraftstrafing runs (aircraft firing runs on ground targets) using acoustic sensor scoring systems.[11] The ground strafing targets consist of several four-metre square nets, each with an orange centred squarebullseye. The Acoustic Air Weapons Scoring System (AWSS) which is located beneath a protectionberm focus on the target screen and run at high speed, catching the supersonic profile of the incoming projectile, and triangulating its position concurrent with counting the event. The AWSS sensor modes can displayrounds per minute results and the location of the strafe projectiles in the target area. The angle of attack and the horizontal approach angle are also calculated. This result is transmitted to the control tower, where it is displayed to the Air Traffic Controller for relaying to the pilot. The range also has semi-automatic bomb and rocket scoring systems.[11]
The station'sRAF heraldic badge features a vertical sword through a crown. The circular frame coloured with RAF blue reads 'Royal Air Force Station Holbeach' and the motto isDefend and Strike.[17]
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