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RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

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sschofield
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by sschofield » Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:43 am

Very interesting! That explains the occasional deployments of US-based F-16's into Bentwaters in the 80's and 90's!

graham luxton
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by graham luxton » Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:39 pm

Some of the Literature I have of that time says that the plan was SAC FB-111's would have gone to Boscombe Down(HAS's built for them), Bentwaters/Woodbridge would have had CONUS F16's . Also US based "Lizard Scheme" A10's would back up the 81st, 4TFW(SJ) F4E's were "Dual based" with Ramstein . How much would actually get here before the Warsaw Pact & NATO started throwing "Buckets of instant Sunshine" at each other[/quote]

I doubt if SAC ever intended to Forward Base its FB-111A's at Boscombe Down or anywhere else in the UK because I suspect we would have seen some evidence of it if that was the case. Certainly,the 17 FB-111A's which did visit the UK over the period 1971 - 1989 had nothing to do with any deployment plan, unlike the operations of Cannon's 27TFW/CC, 522TFS (red fin stripe) whose F-111D's deployed to Boscombe Down 4 times in the Eighties - '80, '83, '86 and '89. A total of 32 'D's were involved. The 1986 deployment also included 6 366TFW/MO, 390ECS EF-111A's which suggests that ECM assets may also have gone to Boscombe in a crisis - these were the only F-111 units hosted by the base.

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by page_verify » Fri Mar 10, 2017 9:08 pm

Did Boscombe have the facilities to support/secure/maintain the AGM-69? I'm sure they would have deployed if they had to, but I'm not sure I've ever seen any mention of anything other than freefall nuclear aircraft weapons ever being forward deployed anywhere in the days after colour TV was invented. (Apart from the fact the AGM-69 was itself a deathtrap, nuclear missiles require very specialist maintenance areas - usually a long way from....well anything really)

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by graham luxton » Fri Mar 10, 2017 10:36 pm

page_verify wrote:Did Boscombe have the facilities to support/secure/maintain the AGM-69? I'm sure they would have deployed if they had to, but I'm not sure I've ever seen any mention of anything other than freefall nuclear aircraft weapons ever being forward deployed anywhere in the days after colour TV was invented. (Apart from the fact the AGM-69 was itself a deathtrap, nuclear missiles require very specialist maintenance areas - usually a long way from....well anything really)
As this was a SAC weapon for the B-1B/B-52/FB-111A, I doubt if there was any requirement for Boscombe to be AGM-69 capable.

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by quid21 » Mon Mar 13, 2017 5:14 pm

Wasn't the F-117 certified to carry a couple of small nukes? I'm sure I read that somewhere - could they have been forward deployed if tensions got really high back then? :ninja:

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by page_verify » Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:17 pm

The aircraft had the special wiring and controls for the B-61, but I'd be surprised if any air or ground crews were actually qualified for that mission.

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by page_verify » Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:54 pm

No news or rumours for almost a month? Perhaps the rumours from the last couple of months are now "happening"?

JG71
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by JG71 » Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:41 pm

page_verify wrote:No news or rumours for almost a month? Perhaps the rumours from the last couple of months are now "happening"?
KC-135 will move out in September/October 2019. Construction work at Ramstein will begin within the next few months. Click to view the planed construction at Ramstein http://static.rheinpfalz.de/typo3temp/_ ... 1a5d69.jpg
:clap: :thumbs:

morleyca
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by morleyca » Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:08 am

Any news on Ospreys to Spangdalem

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by page_verify » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:22 am

This article from last September shows they're preparing for the CV-22s in Germany, but it doesn't give any hint as to when they'll move there.
http://www.mildenhall.af.mil/News/Artic ... ic-testing

Given what we know so far, this looks to be the future of Mildenhall's units:

100th ARW - Ramstein, Oct 2019
352nd SOW - Spangdahlem, no date
501st CSW - Croughton
95th RS - "To be confirmed"
488th IS - "To be confirmed"
727th AMS - "To be confirmed"

Snoop 95
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by Snoop 95 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:18 am

Article from Bury Free Press about the start of works to accommodate the F35:
http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/lig ... -1-7899148

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Freeman Lowell
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by Freeman Lowell » Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:39 am

Snoop 95 wrote:Article from Bury Free Press about the start of works to accommodate the F35:
http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/lig ... -1-7899148
They would be a paler shade of gray then?
Freeman
It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.

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sschofield
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by sschofield » Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:41 am

They spelt it right on the header for the picture and then spelt it wrong twice in the article! Lazy local rag journalism...

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XWP29
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by XWP29 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:17 pm

Latest https://www.facebook.com/notes/raf-lake ... 378662448/
Not too exciting. It refers to demolition, the 56th Area?
GRIM REAPERS SUPPORTER

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TankBuster
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by TankBuster » Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:05 am

I think the 56th are moving to Aviano to make way for the F35s. I assume the area that will be redeveloped is the North side of the base which was once occupied by the F-111s of the 495th TFS?

TankBuster
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reaperops
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by reaperops » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:58 pm

Here we go........ The Devils Knockin' at my door!

Snoop 95
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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by Snoop 95 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:22 pm

Perhaps a bit too early to say Yippee yet, but Yippee!

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by Unknown74 » Tue Apr 18, 2017 5:37 am

Would love to see Mildenhall kept open. Mildenhall, Lakenheath and maybe Fairford are all the Americans need in the U.K.

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Re: RAF Mildenhall to close. Lakenheath to get F-35 by 2020

Post by page_verify » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:55 am

Unknown74 wrote:Mildenhall, Lakenheath and maybe Fairford are all the Americans need in the U.K.
No Croughton, Welford, Molesworth or MWH as well?

The "review" news is no great surprise if there's any truth in the recent rumours on the street.

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