RAF Mount Pleasant | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NearStanley,East Falkland in theFalkland Islands | |||||||||
 Aerial view of RAF Mount Pleasant | |||||||||
 Defend the Right | |||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | Permanent Joint Operating Base | ||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||
| Controlled by | British Forces South Atlantic Islands | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
  RAF Mount Pleasant Location in Falkland Islands Show map of Falkland Islands RAF Mount Pleasant RAF Mount Pleasant (South America) Show map of South America | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°49′22″S058°26′50″W / 51.82278°S 58.44722°W /-51.82278; -58.44722 | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1985 (1985) | ||||||||
| In use | 1985–present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Occupants | |||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: MPN,ICAO: EGYP,WMO: 88889 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 71.1 metres (233 ft)AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Source: UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Mount Pleasant (EGYP)[1] | |||||||||
RAF Mount Pleasant (IATA:MPN,ICAO:EGYP) (also known asMount Pleasant Airport,Mount Pleasant Complex orMPA)[2] is aRoyal Air Force station in theBritish Overseas Territory of theFalkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right"[3] (while the motto of the islands is "Desire the right") and is part of theBritish Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI). Home to between 1,000 and 2,000 British military personnel, it is about 33 miles (53 km) southwest ofStanley,[4] the capital of the Falklands, on the island ofEast Falkland. The world's longest corridor, 2,600 feet (800 m) long, links the barracks, messes, and recreational and welfare areas of the station, and was nicknamed the "Death Star Corridor" by personnel due to its drab and foreboding ambience, before it was re-designed, re-painted, and re-named "Millennium Corridor".[5]
Mount Pleasant was opened byPrince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year. The station was constructed as part of British efforts to strengthen the defence of the Falkland Islands following theFalklands War. It remains the newest purpose-built RAF station and replaced previous RAF facilities atPort Stanley Airport.
RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in theRoyal Air Force. The RAF previously had a small airfield atPort Stanley Airport after the end of the hostilities in 1982. During theFalklands War when the islands were occupied byArgentine military forces, British aircraft were sent to disable the runway withRAF Strike CommandVulcan bombers (Operation Black Buck) andRoyal NavySea Harriers. The first two Black Buck missions were flown under tactics to make it reasonably probable at least one of twenty-one 1,000-pound bombs dropped would hit the target.[6] On the first mission one 1,000-pound (450 kg) bomb hit the edge of the runway. The damage was easily repaired by Argentine engineers.C-130 Hercules transport aircraft were able to bring in supplies and take out casualties until the end of the conflict using one side of the runway.Pucará, Fokkers andAermacchi AM-339 fast-jet fighters also operated from the runway from the first until the last day of the campaign. The second Black Buck mission failed to hit the runway. No Argentine aircraft were moved north to defend Buenos Aires. At the end of hostilities, the runway was fully repaired by British military engineers.[7]
After thesurrender of the Argentine ground forces on the islands, the British still faced the problem of potentialArgentine air attacks from Argentina, so an aircraft carrier had to remain on station to guard the islands with its squadron of Sea Harriers until the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft.HMS Hermes was the first to take guard duty, whilstHMS Invincible went north to change a main engine at sea.[8]Invincible then returned to relieveHermes which urgently needed to return to the UK for boiler cleaning.Invincible returned until she was relieved by the newly builtHMS Illustrious, which was quickly rushed south and commissioned during the journey. Once the Port Stanley runway was available for jets,Illustrious was relieved by23 Squadron operating theF-4 Phantom FGR.2. Initially stationed atRAF Stanley, the unit moved to Mount Pleasant upon its opening.[9]
In order to deter further Argentine aggression or invasion attempts, the British Government considered it necessary to enhance the military presence in the Falklands. However, the temporary military airfield at RAF Stanley was restricted by the length and strength of its runway.[10] Therefore, in June 1983, the British Government announced that a new military airfield would be constructed at Mount Pleasant, the option being considered to be more cost effective and straightforward than upgrading RAF Stanley. It would also allow RAF Stanley to remain operational whilst the new airfield was constructed.[11]
TheMinistry of Defence reached a voluntary agreement to purchase 8,300 acres (3,400 ha) of farmland for £55,000, with severance compensation assessed at £100,000. To allow existing agricultural operations to continue, Mount Pleasant House and other farm facilities were relocated at a cost of £83,877.[12]
The airfield at Mount Pleasant was constructed by Mowlem-Laing Amey Roadstone Construction, a consortium of British civil engineering and construction firmsMowlem,John Laing Group andAmey plc. At the construction stage the airfield was called the Falkland Island Strategic Airfield or FISA[11] and was designed to accommodate military as well as civilwide-body aircraft, enabling efficiencies in the running costs and time taken to support the Falklands garrison. The construction and shipping of materials to the Falklands was expected to cost approximately £190 million. Additional costs included the provision of a road between Stanley and Mount Pleasant and the installation of communication and navigation aids, bringing the overall cost to approximately £215m. Construction began in Autumn 1983 and the new runway was expected to be available for use by April 1985, with the wider airfield complete by February 1986.[11]
RAF Mount Pleasant was opened byPrince Andrew (who saw active duty during theFalklands War while serving in theFleet Air Arm) on 12 May 1985 and became fully operational on 1 May 1986.[13]
Mount Pleasant's first flying unit,No. 23 Squadron, equipped with fourMcDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2, arrived from RAF Stanley on 21 April 1986. The Phantoms were joined byNo. 78 Squadron on 22 May 1986, which was reformed from the formerNo. 1310 Flight, operating theBoeing Chinook HC1 andNo. 1564 Flight, operating theWestland Sea King HAR3.[14] Later in 1986, twoLockheed C-130 Hercules C1K ofNo. 1312 Flight, operating in theair-to-air refuelling role, moved to Mount Pleasant to support the Phantoms.[15]
Responsibility for the air-defence and of the Falklands and the Phantoms of No. 23 Squadron were transferred toNo. 1435 Flight on 1 November 1988. Subsequently, the flight's Phantoms were replaced when fourPanavia Tornado F3 arrived in the Falklands in July 1992.[16]
No. 1312 Flight's Hercules C1K were withdrawn in April 1996, with the flight gaining aVickers VC10 K4 for air-to-air refuelling and C-130 Hercules C3 in the transport role.[15]
In September 2009, the Falklands' air-defence capability was enhanced when No. 1435 Flight's Tornado F3s were replaced by theEurofighter Typhoon FGR4 in thequick reaction alert (QRA) role, at a cost of £1.56 million. To accommodate the Typhoon, a further £416,000 was spent on infrastructure improvements to the airfield.[17] As of 2024, the Tranche 1 variant of the Typhoon is deployed in the islands.[18]
As part of the RAF's wider upgrade of their Hercules, the C3 variant of No. 1312 Flight was replaced with aC-130J C5 in April 2010. ALockheed TriStar K1 took over the air-to-air refuelling role from the VC10 K4 in October 2013, when the latter was withdrawn from RAF service. The TriStar itself was soon replaced, in February 2014, by anAirbus A330 Voyager KC3.[15]
Chinook helicopters provided heavy-lift support until they were withdrawn in 2006. In 2015, the Chinooks were redeployed to Mount Pleasant. A flight ofWestland Sea King helicopters for support andsearch and rescue was located at Mount Pleasant from November 2007 until April 2016.[19]
Prince William served as a Sea King pilot on the station for six weeks during February and March 2012.[20]
As of 1 April 2016, with the retirement ofWestland Sea King the Islands'search and rescue function has been replaced by a commercial organisation, AAR, subcontracting the services to British International Helicopters for 10 years using two newAgustaWestland AW189s.[21]
1312 Flight's Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, used for transport,search and rescue, andmaritime patrol, was replaced with anAirbus A400M Atlas C1 in April 2018.[22]
Mount Pleasant Complex has a wide range of social and sporting facilities including a gym and sports pitches. As of August 2010, it has the onlycricket ground in the Falklands. There are twoNAAFI shops, a medical centre, and an education centre on the base.BFBS Radio also maintains a live local station on the site. There is also a complex that includes a small shop which is owned and run by theFalkland Islands Company.[23]
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The station provides a base for air-defence and transport operations in the south Atlantic and is home to No. 905Expeditionary Air Wing, part ofBritish Forces South Atlantic Islands. The wing comprises two RAF flights, which operate a range of aircraft:
PrevioslyNo. 1310 Flight operated twoChinook HC.4 helicopters.[25][26], but as of 2022, Chinooks are no longer based in the Falklands.[27]
Additionally, the civilian firm,Bristow Helicopters (BIH), operates twoSikorsky S-92 for personnel and equipment transport and also flies twoAgustaWestland AW189s for search and rescue operations.[28][29]
TheBritish Army maintains a garrison on the Falkland Islands based at Mount Pleasant. It includes aroulement infantry company, an air defence surface-to-air missile unit (SAM "Rapier"), an Explosive Ordnance Disposal detachment, engineers and supporting elements.[30][31]
There is also a Joint Communications Unit (JCU) providing theelectronic warfare and command and control systems for theRoyal Navy,British Army andRoyal Air Force.[32]
Units based at Mount Pleasant Complex.[26][33]
Royal Air Force
British Army
Royal Navy (Operating fromMare Harbour facilities five miles from the Mount Pleasant complex)
Using theIATA airport codeMPN, Mount Pleasant Complex also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role. Flights open to civilian passengers are operated twice each week[38]. TheHercules C-130 Transport Force operating out ofRAF Lyneham supplied a direct non-stop service from RAF Lyneham viaAscension, Wideawake Airfield. From Ascension the flight was direct involving in-flight refuelling from a C-130 tanker. The flight duration was usually about 12 hours down and 13 hours back. The last scheduled flight in the world involving in-flight refuelling was carried out by a crew of24 Squadron in C-130 XV291 during the period 18–23 March 1989. This was the 650th and last of its type carried out by RAF Lyneham C-130s. Flights were then operated directly by the RAF using theLockheed TriStars of216 Squadron. Starting in autumn 2008,[39] these flights were operated on behalf of the Royal Air Force by a civilian airline,Flyglobespan. Since the airline's bankruptcy in 2009, the flights have been operated byAir Tahiti Nui,Titan Airways,Air Seychelles andHi Fly.[40] The service is now operated byAirTanker usingAirbus Voyager aircraft.[41] Up to 2022, they flew to and fromRAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, with a refuelling stop atCape Verde because the runway atRAF Ascension Island was closed.[42][43] With the opening of one side of the runway at Ascension in 2022, normal flights could resume. Repairs to both sides of the runway at Ascension Island were fully completed in Spring of 2023.[44][45]
On 2 March 2012, theArgentinian PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner called forAerolíneas Argentinas flights toBuenos Aires to replaceLATAM Airlines flights toChile. The idea of flights to Argentina was not supported on the islands, because this might result in Argentina having a monopoly on commercial flights and controlling all commercial air access.[46][47]
On 2 April 2012,Uruguayan companyAir Class Líneas Aéreas gained permission from the Uruguayan Ministry of Defence to start a commercial flight to the Falkland Islands.[48]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| LATAM Chile | Punta Arenas,[49]Rio Gallegos,[50]Santiago de Chile[49] |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FIGAS[51][52] | Stanley,other settlements on the Falklands |
| Climate data for RAF Mount Pleasant, 1999–2012 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 15.1 (59.2) | 14.7 (58.5) | 13.0 (55.4) | 9.8 (49.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 4.9 (40.8) | 4.3 (39.7) | 5.5 (41.9) | 7.4 (45.3) | 10.1 (50.2) | 12.0 (53.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 9.8 (49.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 10.9 (51.6) | 10.6 (51.1) | 9.3 (48.7) | 6.8 (44.2) | 4.5 (40.1) | 2.7 (36.9) | 2.2 (36.0) | 3.0 (37.4) | 4.4 (39.9) | 6.4 (43.5) | 7.9 (46.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 6.5 (43.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) | 6.6 (43.9) | 5.5 (41.9) | 3.7 (38.7) | 2.1 (35.8) | 0.5 (32.9) | 0.1 (32.2) | 0.5 (32.9) | 1.3 (34.3) | 2.7 (36.9) | 3.9 (39.0) | 5.5 (41.9) | 3.3 (37.9) |
| Average precipitation days | 23 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 280 |
| Source: WeatherSpark[53] | |||||||||||||
