Second World War |alt=|left 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 and
gliders. The station opened on 18 January 1944. The RAF used it to lift British troops for
Operation Market Garden. The following units were also here at some point:
Cold War In the early years of the
Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF
Strategic 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 and
RAF Upper Heyford. In 1948 the Americans occupied RAF stations including Fairford, Brize Norton,
Burtonwood, Greenham Common,
Mildenhall,
Lakenheath and
Woodbridge to build up a deterrent in Europe against the Soviets.
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 Team
The Red Arrows. In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the
Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the
United States Air Force for strategic bomber operations. A runway was constructed for long-range bomber operations. The airfield later received
B-47s which were maintained at a heightened state of alert because of increased tensions with the
Soviet Union. Due to the long runway Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the
Concorde aircraft until 1977. The U.S. Air Force returned with
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers deployed on rotation from the many KC-135 bases in the USA. On 15 November 1978 the
11th 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 in
NATO exercises. in 1983|left 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. KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported
Operation 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. 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 first
Gulf War in 1991, with B-52s and KC-135s from
Eaker AFB in Arkansas. It was later used during
Operation Allied Force in 1999 when B-52s from
Barksdale AFB,
B-1Bs from
Ellsworth AFB and KC-135s from
Mountain Home AFB were used.
21st century s onto a B-52|alt=|left In the 2003
Iraq War, Operation Iraqi Freedom included B-52s based at
Minot AFB but flying from Fairford. In recent years the airfield has been occasionally used by American
B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and is frequently visited by
U-2 aircraft. 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 a
NATO country since the end of the
Cold War. This work lasted from May 2000 through May 2002. 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 the
100th Air Refueling Wing at
RAF Mildenhall. These units are assigned to airfields at RAF Fairford,
RAF Croughton,
RAF Alconbury, and
RAF Molesworth. The 420 ABG reported directly to
Third Air Force until 26 May 2004, when the 38th Combat Support Wing (38 CSW) was established at
Sembach Annex, Germany. The construction of two climate-controlled hangars was completed in December 2004. At a cost of £ million ($19 million), the hangars were designed to accommodate the B-2A Spirit and allow for maintenance of its specialist
low-observable coating. On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the
501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at
RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom. 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. In September 2014 Fairford was used as the staging base for US President
Barack 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 State
John Kerry also arrived in his own USAF
C-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.
68-10329 at RIAT, 2022. This aircraft was on detachment with the 99th ERS. 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). March 2019 saw the largest deployment of B-52Hs to RAF Fairford since Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, when six bombers arrived from the
2nd Bomb Wing. In November 2018, it was announced that the
95th Reconnaissance Squadron and 488th Intelligence Squadron would relocate to Fairford by 2024. The squadrons, based at
RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, are both part of the
55th Operations Group and support
Boeing RC-135 surveillance aircraft when forward deployed on temporary duty to the UK from the United States. The move, part of the US
Department of Defense's European Infrastructure Consolidation programme, was expected to see 500 personnel and RC-135 operations transfer to Fairford. However, in December the proposal was cancelled and it was confirmed that Mildenhall would be retained as the RC-135's UK operating location. In September 2019, the
99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron (99th ERS) began a
Lockheed U-2S Dragon Lady detachment from
Beale Air Force Base, California. On 22 August 2020, six
B-52H bombers from the
23rd Bomb Squadron,
5th Bomb Wing,
Minot AFB deployed to RAF Fairford for a series of exercises with
NATO and allied countries. 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. The
Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) acquired 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 the
Cotswold Water Park lake system which is designated as a
site of special scientific interest. The DIO indicated that the land would be used to enhance station security and improve
bird hazard management, as well as for military exercises and recreation. 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. In February 2022, four B-52H bombers from the
69th Bomb Squadron were deployed to RAF Fairford for six weeks. In August 2024, a
Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk deployed to and operated from RAF Fairford for the first time. In March 2026, American
B-1 Lancer and B-52 bombers were deployed to RAF Fairford as part of the 2026
US–Israeli offensive on Iran. The UK initially denied
US President Donald Trump's request for United States use of the base, but on 1 March 2026 Prime Minister
Keir Starmer gave permission for American aircraft to use the base for "defensive purposes". == Role and operations ==