A USAF F15E of the 492nd Fighter Squadron “Madhatters” landing at RAF Lakenheath. • With work starting on the expansion of RAF Lakenheath I thought I would write a post about the base and it’s future. History First World War During the First World War, the Royal Flying Corp used the airfield at Lakenheath Warren as a range for practicing bombing and ground attack. It was then vacated after the war ended in 1918. Second World War In 1940, Lakenheath was selected to become a decoy airfield of the nearby RAF Mildenhall. False lights, runways, and aircraft were installed so that it would cause the Luftwaffe to attack it rather than Mildenhall. In 1941 surfaced runways were constructed. The main runway (04/22) was 2,000 yards (1,828 meters) long. There were also 2 other runways, (12/30) at 1,300 yards (1,188 meters) and (16/34) 1,400 yards (1,280 meters). Hardstands were also constructed along with 3 hangars, 2 of which were to the east across the A1065 road. In 1941 the airfield served as a satellite airfield for RAF Mildenhall. The RAF dispersed Short Sterling bombers belonging to to No.149 Squadron to the airfield from RAF Mildenhall when weather permitted. In 1942 No.149 Squadron moves permanently into Lakenheath until 1944 when they moved to RAF Methwold. No.149 Squadron has one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all the sterling squadrons and conducted over 350 operations. One sterling pilot, Flight Sergeant Richard Middleton was awarded the Victoria Cross when he received serious facial injuries from sheep fire during a raid on the Fiat facility in Turin, Italy. Whilst returning to the UK, the aircraft ran out of fuel and the crew were ordered to bail out. Richard was killed when the aircraft crashed into the English Channel. In 1943 3 more hangars were built for gliders. 40 Horsa Gliders were then deployed to Lakenheath. Also in 1943 a second Sterling Squadron was stood up at Lakenheath. Laid mines of the winter of 1943 and 1944. After completing 68 operations the squadron was moved to RAF North Creake later in 1944. Lakenheath was being cleared of Sterling aircraft due to it being 1 of 3 airfields selected to be upgraded to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield so that the USAF could deploy B-29 Superfortresses to the airfield. The upgrade involved removing the existing runways and laying new ones. The main runway was (07/25) 3,000 yards (2,743 meters) and then there were two subsidiary runways (01/19 and 14/32) at 2000 yards (1828 meters) each. By the time the construction had finished the war was over and Lakenheath put on a Care and maintenance status. Cold War In April 1947 RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways resurfaced to commence operations in 1948. In the July of 1948 the USAF deployed B-29 Superfortresses of the SAC 2nd bombardment group to Lakenheath for a 90 day deployment. In the November of the same year the RAF handed control of the base to the United States Air Force Europe. Some of the known SAC units that transferred to Lakenheath on temporary deployment were: * 830th Bombardment Squadron (1 June 1949 – 21 August 1949) (B-50D) * (TDY from the 509th Composite Group, Walker AFB, New Mexico) * 65th Bombardment Squadron (15 August 1949 – 15 November 1949) (B-50D) * (TDY From the 43d Bombardment Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) * 33d Bombardment Squadron (20 November 1949 – 18 February 1950) (B-29) * (TDY From the 22d Bombardment Wing, March AFB, California) * 96th Bombardment Squadron (22 February 1950 – 12 May 1950) (B-50D) * (TDY From the 2d Bombardment Wing, Hunter AFB, Georgia) * 301st Bombardment Wing (28 June 1950 – 28 November 1950) (B-29) * (TDY From Barksdale AFB, Louisiana) * 97th Bombardment Wing (15 March 1952 – 1 April 1952) (B-50D, KC-97) * (TDY From Biggs AFB, Texas) * 19th Bombardment Squadron (6 September 1951 – 13 December 1951) (B-29) * (TDY From the 22d Bombardment Wing, March AFB, California) * In 1956 two U2 spy planes were air lifted to Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A. This unit however did not stay long and moved to Wiesbaden Air Base in West Germany less than two months later. In July of 1956, a B-47 Bomber crashed whilst on a training mission carrying 3 Mark-6 Nuclear weapons. The bombs didn’t have their fissile cores in them but each bomb had about 8,000 pounds of high explosive in them as part of the trigger mechanism. The crash and ensuing fire did not ignite the high explosives and no detonation occurred. The weapons were then referred to the Atomic Energy Commission. The crash sadly killed the 4 crew members on board. On the 10th of October 1956 a United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 that has taken off from Lakenheath went missing over the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst traveling to the Azores. All 59 crew were lost. In 1959 French President Charles de Gaulle insisted that all foreign nuclear capable forces should withdraw from France, the next year the redeployed its F-100’s that were part of the 48th TFW from Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base to Lakenheath. As part of this transfer, control of the base transferred back to USAFE from Strategic Air Command. Upon arriving back at Lakenheath, the 48th TFW had the following tactical components: 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron 493rd Tactical Fighter Squadron 494th Tactical Fighter Squadron Between 1972 and 1977 the 48th TFW started its conversion of the F4 Phantom with aircraft being transferred from the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters. Upon arrival the jets were given the Lakenheath tail code of LK, this tail code was changed a few months later to the current LN tail code. The aircraft then received a squadron identifying fin cap colour of blue, yellow and red (492d, 493d, 494th respectively). The Phantoms didn’t last long at Lakenheath and in early 1977 Lakenheath sent their Phantoms to Nellis Air Force Base. They were then replaced by F111’s from Mountain Home AFB. A fourth squadron was activated at Lakenheath in 1977. The 495th Fighter Squadrons mission was to act as a training unit for the other 3 squadrons. They had a green tail colour. In 1986 F111’s from Lakenheath took part in combat operations over Libya. The operations prompted a mock-acronym of “Lakenheath Is Bombing Your Ass. One F111 from Lakenheath was shot down over Libya killing both of its crew. Post Cold War In 1991 the 495th Fighter Squadron was disbanded and not long after the F111’s started to leave Lakenheath. Shortly after this the 493rd Fighter Squadron was also disbanded. With the departure of the F111 it was time to get the jet they still fly from there to this day, the F15E Strike Eagle. The base received its first Strike Eagle in 1992 On the 25th of February 1994, Bitburg airbase in Germany closed. The USAF decided to reactivate the 493rd fighter squadron as a F15C/D Squadron. These aircraft were transferred from Elgin AFB in the US to Lakenheath. This made the 48th the largest F15 unit in the US Air Force. In 2003 the 48th Fighter Wing received the first of a new batch of F15E’s. These would be some of the last F15’s built for the US Air Force. On the 2nd of March 2011 there was a gun attack on a bus bound for Ramstein AFB from Frankfurt Airport, Germany. Members of the 48th Security Forces Squadron were on board when they came under attack by a single gunman. On the 22nd of the same month a F15E crashed in Eastern Libya after suffering a mechanical failure. Both crew safely ejected and were recovered by combat search and rescue. On the 7th of January 2014, a Pave Hawk from the 56th Rescue Squadron at the base crashed after hitting a flock of geese over the North Norfolk coast near Cley. All 4 occupants were killed. Later that same year in October, a F15D from the base crashed near Spalding, Lincolnshire. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by the 56th Rescue Squadron. In October of 2015, a F18 Hornet from MCAS Miramar, California crashed near the base. Sadly the pilot did not survive. In April of 2018, the 56th Rescue Squadron moves from RAF Lakenheath to Aviano Air Base in Italy. Today Currently there are 3 Fighter Squadrons flying from the base: The 492nd Fighter Squadron, flying the F15E. The 493rd Fighter Squadron, flying the F15C/D. And the 494th Fighter Squadron flying the F15E. Future From 2021, Lakenheath will be home to the F-35A Lightning II 5th generation fighter. There would be 48 F-35A’s based at Lakenheath and these will operate alongside the current F15 aircraft. There will also be another Squadron stood up. This most likely will see the return of the 495th to Lakenheath. It will be interesting to see the integration between the RAF and USAF F-35 training facilities as the nearby RAF Marham is home to the RAF and Royal Navy F-35B’s. With the expected arrival of the F-35, the base is currently undergoing significant infrastructure changes. * Two six-bay maintenance hangars – Space for service, maintenance, storage, and staff support facilities (to be known as Hangars 4-1 and 4-2). * Hangar 6 (Consolidated Parts Store) – Single-storey extension to the southern side of Hangar 6, including offices and warehouses and the storage of aircraft equipment and parts. * Dual Squadron Operations/Aircraft Maintenance Unit – A three-storey building to provide combined facilities for two squadrons comprising Squadron Operations and Aircraft Maintenance Unit (AMU) facilities, including mission planning, administration space in the operations section and offices to manage the maintenance of aircraft and storage space. * Corrosion control and wash rack facility – Comprising single-storey hangar to maintain aircraft including a paint and sanding booth and wash rack. * Flight simulator facility – Comprising a single-storey building to accommodate six F-35A flight simulators, administration, records, classrooms, brief/debrief rooms, and storage space. * A Field Training Detachment Facility, comprising A three-storey building to provide F-35A training programme to maintain the aircraft, incorporating classrooms and administration rooms. Field Training Detachment Facility – A three-storey building to provide F-35A maintenance, including classrooms and administration rooms. * Aircraft Generation Equipment (AGE) Facilities – A single storey building extension and new covered storage associated with an existing building used for maintenance and storage of AGE related to the F-35A. * Fuel System Maintenance Dock – A single storey hangar with fuel system maintenance dock to support the operation of the F-35A. * Munitions Maintenance Facility – A single storey building extension and new covered storage to an existing building for the maintenance of munitions used by the F-35A. * Residential accommodation – A three or four storey dormitory for up to 144 beds to accommodate the increase in station personnel. * Flight-line Dining Facility. * Munitions Storage Administration Maintenance building. * Hospital – Replacement medical facility up to four storeys to provide inpatient services, outpatient and speciality care clinics, ancillary services, support and medical administrative functions. * High school – A three or four storey building to house approximately 560 students. The airfield operational surfaces would also be expanded as follows. * Charlie Apron, currently used by F-15's will be redeveloped and extended to allow the parking of up to forty-two F-35A aircraft in dual-occupancy shelters constructed from a light weight, canopy structure with open sides. The total area of Charlie Apron once extended will be approximately 78,392 square metres, combining the retained area of 58,780 square metres with the new area of 19,612 square metres. It will be connected to Maintenance Hangars 4-1 and 4-2 and the Squadron Operations/AMU building. * Alpha-Bravo Apron will be extended to accommodate existing F-15 aircraft currently using Charlie Apron. The total area of Alpha-Bravo Apron once extended will be approximately 54,179 square metres, combining the retained area of 39,750 square metres with the new area of 14,429 square metres. Up to thirty-eight F-15 aircraft will be capable of being accommodated on the open apron which would not feature any shelters. The infrastructure project contract was awarded for £160m and demolition work on the site commenced in early 2019. The F-35A’s deployment is not only great for the airforce (and plane spotters) but also to the local economy. The Department of Defense had announced that the nearby RAF Mildenhall will be closed with the majority of units being redeployed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and the intelligence aircraft being deployed to new facilities at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire along with the RAF’s RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft. Many in the local area and even a lot of personnel on base are not convinced this move will end up happening due to the date being pushed back year on year (now won’t close until 2025 at the earliest) and rising global tensions, however, if it does close there are concerns that it will hurt the local economy of West Suffolk. With the expansion of RAF Lakenheath, it is expected that the base will see an additional 1,200 personnel on the base. This should benefit the local economy even if Mildenhall does end up shutting. We now wait till 2021 to see the first LN codes F-35A touch down at Lakenheath. Hopefully I can bring a picture here when it happens. • #avgeek #aviationgeek #aviation #aviationdaily #aviationphotography #aviation_lovers #aviation4u #military #militaryaviation #raflakenheath #lakenheath #usaf #usairforce #unitedstatesairforce #f15 #f15e #f15eagle #eagle #fighterjet #fighter #nato #madhatter #492nd (at RAF Lakenheath) https://www.instagram.com/p/BysNyOYBPBA/?igshid=1rk735vvl3xzk