The Royal Air Force Fairford was built on 1944 with the primary mission of accommodating the British and the American troop gliders and carriers that will be used during their invasion of Normandy. After the World War II, the United States Air Force gained control of the base to have access to their strategic was operations. The first project of the USAF is the construction of the 10,000 foot runway which until today is the longest runway in the entire United Kingdom.
Over the years, RAF Fairford was awarded the Concorde’s British Flight Test Center on 1969 until 1978 and on 1979; the USAF landed the squadron of KC-135 Stato-tankers which played a primary role in attacking Libya on 1986. The base gained more popularity when the airfield was used by the Space Shuttle as its abort site and because of the way the runway was built and the location; it became the site for the United States bomber fleet.
Located near Cirencester, Glocestershire, Royal Air Force Fairford and is actively used by the USAF based in Europe is found 60 miles away from RAf Croughton and 54 miles apart from Bristol. Because of the ongoing base operations like the air refueling operations, the population of RAF FAirford was tripled in just two months because of the arrival of the people showing their support to the NATO’s Operation Allied Force.
Currently, RAF Fairford is upgrading the runway and its fuel bunkers with a budget of US $90M. This renovation is the most funded military construction project of the NATO County ever since the cold war between United States and United Kingdom broke out. The US has plans of making the base the long range stealth bombers while the Pentagon is eyeing the base as the site for the bombers deployment.
Royal Air Force Fairford Images
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