Update on Fairford

[thevulcan]

I believe you will just see an increase in night stopping/ transitioning flights with maybe the odd deployment of an interesting type.

[paulk]

I bet we don’t

[Ghost from above]

The pipeline is no longer MOD so I bet any extra fuel through it will come at a cosy.The last upgrade was to the eastern end with a new BFI. The remaining BFI's are overdue work being built 40-50 years ago. The linings usually get changed every 15-20 years with a full strip back (earth bund off) for inspection every 30 years. I can't remember these works having been done,maybe sleepy hollow syndrome has struck.

[page_verify]

Thanks Page_verify The contingency facilities being Mildenhall?

Contingency = EUCOM's current era of deployments to support its objectives in the the Baltic/Ukraine/Black Sea areas.

Contingency facilities = purpose-built B-2 maintenance and storage hangars, purpose-rebuilt U-2 operations hangar, purpose-built contingency bomber operations facility, enough on-site fuel and parking to support 60 C-5s/day (original NATO requirement for the 2000 rebuild work), only base at the time to have multiple connections to several of the nation's fuel pipeline systems, purpose-built cruise missile facility (coming), on-base munitions storage (here but being upgraded), Deployable Air Base System and Medical WRM-contingency distribution hub (coming), and a multi-purpose hangar. (All of this information comes from publicly available news articles or planning documents)

You can probably start to see why certain leaders may not want the base to be distracted by bread and butter transients, tankers, RC-135s etc. when it only has so many beds and dining tables, albeit nice and new ones.

[Spitfire88]

The observant among you will notice work has started on the new 4 bay multi purpose hangar, it’s going to be very very large and as a requirement will be bomb proof, the RJ relocation although possible is looking less likely, it’s seems like Fairfords future will focus on bomber and u2 ops.

[mushbuster]

The pipeline is no longer MOD so I bet any extra fuel through it will come at a cosy.The last upgrade was to the eastern end with a new BFI. The remaining BFI's are overdue work being built 40-50 years ago. The linings usually get changed every 15-20 years with a full strip back (earth bund off) for inspection every 30 years. I can't remember these works having been done,maybe sleepy hollow syndrome has struck.

Not sure where this comes from as it is far from correct. The pipeline is operated by CLH on behalf of MOD and is fully operational, it was installed in the late 80s and is not shared with Brize, the old one that is no longer in use since the 90s was shared with Brize. The eastern end BFI was built around 2005 as can be seen on Google earth, all the others were built since 1990 with 5 large tanks and associated pipelines installed south of the runway in 2000-2002 during the big NATO restoration (I watched their construction during daily dog walks). The fuel infrastructure at Fairford is amongst the newest and has the biggest capacity of any military base in the UK and far exceeds that currently in use at Brize.

[thevulcan]

Thanks Page_verify The contingency facilities being Mildenhall?

Contingency = EUCOM's current era of deployments to support its objectives in the the Baltic/Ukraine/Black Sea areas.

Contingency facilities = purpose-built B-2 maintenance and storage hangars, purpose-rebuilt U-2 operations hangar, purpose-built contingency bomber operations facility, enough on-site fuel and parking to support 60 C-5s/day (original NATO requirement for the 2000 rebuild work), only base at the time to have multiple connections to several of the nation's fuel pipeline systems, purpose-built cruise missile facility (coming), on-base munitions storage (here but being upgraded), Deployable Air Base System and Medical WRM-contingency distribution hub (coming), and a multi-purpose hangar that's definitely not just for a certain large aircraft as it's been called multi-purpose(!) (coming). (All of this information comes from publicly available news articles or planning documents)

You can probably start to see why certain leaders may not want the base to be distracted by bread and butter transients, tankers, RC-135s etc. when it only has so many beds and dining tables, albeit nice and new ones.

Thanks page_verify this helps a lot.
Indeed spitfire88 i noticed that myself will certainly be the largest building on the base.

[page_verify]

I'm not sure we need to discuss the precise current fuel capabilities on a public forum but it's probably enough for us to share from public documents that it has some very large tanks on-site and connectivity to external pipelines which are still less than 20 years old.

However documents describe that new hangar, the base's mission shows it's clearly intended to support maintenance for one particular type of 8-engined aircraft.......my guess now is that European needs and priorities over the last couple of years have changed Fairford's role to the point it couldn't handle any of Mildenhall's residents.

[sabrejet]

Apologies if it's been covered, but are JASSM applicable to the whole bomber fleet (B-1, B-2, B-52)?

[thevulcan]

B-1 can carry 21 B-52 can carry 20 and the B-2 16.

[page_verify]

Assuming the B-1 gets off the ground, it's got no chance of remaining in service until 2036. It'll get retired early to pay for B-21s and B-52 upgrades now it brings so little to the warzone.

[sabrejet]

B-1 can carry 21 B-52 can carry 20 and the B-2 16.

Ta

[RJ79]

Where abouts on the base in the four bay hangar going up?

[RJ79]

Where abouts on the base is the four bay hangar going up (please and thanks )?

[sabrejet]

Large hangar will be behind the U-2 hangar where the large ASP is. Used to be used for RIAT flying display aircraft parking.

[RJ79]

Thanks for that Sabrejet, most useful!

[Spitfire88]

The new hangar is being built on the sight of the base lake , the lake was filled in earlier in the year, the plans are available on open source planning portal for all to see.