History RAF Fairford

aerial photograph of fairford airfield, bomb dump , ammunition dump east (top) of perimeter track, technical site , barrack sites on north (lower left), 2 december 1943.



soldiers boarding planes operation market garden

raf fairford constructed in 1944 serve airfield british , american troop carriers , gliders d-day invasion of normandy during world war ii.

in years of cold war british , american governments reached agreement under elements of usaf strategic air command (sac) based in uk. bases had been established in east anglia, @ raf mildenhall , raf lakenheath, considered vulnerable bomber attack , airfields further behind raf fighter defences sought. 4 raf airfields selected receive sac units — raf brize norton, raf fairford, raf greenham common , raf upper heyford. in 1948 americans occupied raf stations including fairford, brize norton, burtonwood, greenham common, mildenhall, lakenheath , woodbridge build deterrent in europe against soviets.

raf lyneham s position primary tactical transport base raf emphasised in february 1971 when nos. 30 , 47 squadrons transferred old base @ raf fairford.

u.s. air force

in 1950, result of beginning of cold war, airfield transferred united states air force strategic bomber operations. 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway constructed long-range bomber operations.

the runway completed in 1953, , served forward airbase first convair b-36 peacemaker aircraft carswell air force base, texas. airfield later received b-47s maintained @ heightened state of alert because of increased tensions soviet union.

the shuttle carrier carrying enterprise on way paris air show in 1983

fairford chosen in 1969 british test centre concorde aircraft, continued until 1977. u.s. air force returned boeing kc-135 stratotankers deployed on rotation many kc-135 bases in usa. on 15 november 1978 11th strategic group (11 sg) activated @ raf fairford. not manned until following february , used kc-135 aircraft , crews sac, air national guard, , af reserve units until 11 sg received own aircraft in september 1979. began aerial refueling support usaf operations, deployments , redeployments, participating in nato exercises.

operations staff , maintenance personnel permanently assigned, aircraft, aircrews , crew chiefs temporarily assigned 11th strategic group european tanker task force on rotation. aircraft , crews operated riyadh, saudi arabia; keflavik, iceland; zaragosa, spain; lajes field, azores; sigonella nas, italy; , hellenikon, greece. unit retained 11th strategic group designation, inactivated on 7 august 1990.

kc-135 , kc-10 tankers deployed fairford supported operation el dorado canyon against libya in 1986. kc-135s , kc-10s withdrawn in 1990 , station returned standby status, upgraded limited use in mid-1990s. in 2010, military personnel removed, leaving civilian operating unit.

crew members loading mark 82 bombs onto b-52

due raf fairford s location , infrastructure, airfield designated forward operating location air force. used in first gulf war in 1991, b-52s , kc-135s eaker afb in arkansas. later used during operation allied force in 1999 when b-52s barksdale afb, b-1bs ellsworth afb , kc-135s mountain home afb used. during conflict, fairford-based bombers dropped 48% of ordnance dropped nato on targets in former yugoslavia. in 2003 iraq war, operation iraqi freedom included b-52s based @ minot afb flying fairford. in recent years airfield has been used american b-2 spirit stealth bombers , visited transient u-2 aircraft.

due deteriorating airfield facilities , unique nato heavy bomber mission, raf fairford underwent $100 million upgrade of runway , fuel systems in largest nato funded airfield construction project within nato country since end of cold war. work lasted may 2000 through may 2002. additional improvements continued until 2008, including construction of 2 climate-controlled hangars b-2 stealth bombers , low-observability maintenance dock.

in 2010 usaf withdrew uniformed staff station september 2010 leaving civilian operating unit maintain base on care , maintenance basis. base remains designated standby airfield heavy bomber operations, capable of immediate reactivation within 24–48 hours , continues host royal international air tattoo every july.

in september 2014 fairford used staging base president obama s trip nato conference held in newport, wales. vc-25a air force 1 (af1) aircraft carrying president , entourage , support aircraft arrived on 3 september, secretary of state john kerry arrived in own usaf c-32 aircraft. air force 1 president obama departed washington 5 september after impromptu visit stonehenge on way newport raf fairford. support aircraft temporarily based @ fairford visit included vc-22s, vh-60s other support aircraft, significant number of c-17 cargo aircraft delivered equipment , vehicles.

since june 2014 raf fairford has seen regular heavy bomber exercises return b-52h, b-2a , in september 2016, b-1b aircraft short duration exercises air force global strike command , air force reserve units barksdale, minot, whiteman , dyess air force bases. these exercises include participation in nato exercises baltops, saber strike , ample strike. baltops, maritime exercise, takes place off baltic states of estonia, latvia , lithuania, while saber strike saw b-52s flying close air support missions in poland. taking advantage of b-52 deployment in 2014 2 flights of 2 b-2 spirits, made brief visits fairford part of global power training flights. ample strike exercise in september 2016 first time air force reserve had deployed 2 types of heavy bombers (b-1bs , b-52hs) under same parent operating wing (307bw).