RAF Lakenheath
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RAF Lakenheath is a United States Air Forces in Europe base located at Template:Coor dms, near Lakenheath, Suffolk in Great Britain.
It is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, flying the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle. Aircraft based at Lakenheath wear "LN" codes on their tails. 5,000 U.S. military personnel and 2,000 U.S. and British civilian personnel are assigned to the base.
RAF Lakenheath and its sister base RAF Mildenhall are known as the largest United States Air Force bases in the United Kingdom.
History
Lakenheath began its service to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War as a decoy airfield. False lights, runways and aircraft diverted attacks from the nearby RAF Mildenhall. The RAF began construction of the airfield in 1940 and the base became operational in 1941.
In mid-1944 the base was closed for reconstruction and was redesignated as a "very heavy bomber station." The main part of this reconstruction was the laying of 9 million ft² (8.3 million m²) of hardstanding as well as new runways and perimeters. Lakenheath remained inactive until 1948 when the tension caused by the Berlin blockade caused the USAF to deploy B-29 Superfortresses followed by transport aircraft.
By 1950 Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S. Strategic Air Command, the others were RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe. The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evalutation of these deployments and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford. Meanwhile in 1956 Lakenheath hosted the first UK deployment of the Lockheed U-2.
Following President Charles de Gaulle's insistence in 1959 that all nuclear forces should be withdrawn from his country, the USAF began a redeployment of its forces. The 48 FW left its base at Chaumont AB, France in January 1960, its F-100s arriving at Lakenheath on January 15.
The 48 TFW was stood down in 1972 to begin its transition to the F-4D Phantom, the last F-100 departed the base in April 1972. The F-4's service with the 48 TFW was short as the wing's first F-111 arrived in March 1977. In the same year construction of the airfield's Hardened Aircraft Shelters (acronym: HAS, but commonly referred to as a TAB-VEE) began as part of a wider NATO effort. F-111s flying from the base took part in Operation El Dorado Canyon and Operation Desert Storm.
In the 1980's there was a peace camp located outside Lakenheath.
Lakenheath began to receive its first F-15Es in 1992 followed by the F-15C, the 48th Fighter Wing's second air-superiority aircraft. The wing, as one of the USAF's premier units, operates the most advanced of the USAF's F-15s. The 48 FW received the first of 10 new F-15Es in 2003, the aircraft are part of the final batch of F-15s expected to be ordered by the USAF. Part of the 48 FW mission is the deployment of about 110 tactical B61 nuclear bombs using F-15E aircraft. The B61 nuclear bombs are stored in vaults inside the base's Hardened Aircraft Shelters using the WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System [1].
Lakenheath was used by the makers of the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, as a U.S. Air Base in the South China Sea. Clues to its true identity are the standard NATO Hardened Aircraft Shelters, the "LN" markings on the F-15s and the credits of the film; "the Producers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath." Actors present at the filming included Pierce Brosnan, and Joe Don Baker.