RAF Wyton

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox military installation

Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton Template:Airport codes is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and the station is now under the command of UK Strategic Command.

RAF Wyton is home to the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence (NCGI), which provides Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) support to HM Armed Forces. It also contains the Ministry of Defence Police Headquarters, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation Regional Headquarters, 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic), and several other UK and Allied capabilities, authorities, and departments.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Located within the station, the Pathfinder Building is described as the "operations centre of Defence Intelligence" and the “largest Top Secret, Five-Eyes by design, military intelligence fusion and assessment facility in the world."<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>

HistoryEdit

Flying stationEdit

File:Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. CH776.jpg

A Percival Petrel and Bristol Blenheim Mark IVs of No. 2 Group at Wyton between 1939 and 1941

File:Aerial travel for Business or Pleasure - Thos Cook & Son - 1919 - pp 16+ (map).jpg

"Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing "Wyton" as a "military and civil station", and as a stop on the route between Hounslow, near London, and the north.

Wyton has been a military airfield since 1916, when it was used for training by the Royal Flying Corps and then its successor the Royal Air Force (RAF).<ref name=rafsite>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1916 and 1935:

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Second World War

During the Second World War it was used primarily as a bomber base, flying Bristol Blenheim, de Havilland Mosquito and Avro Lancaster aircraft.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Bristol Blenheim IV (N6215) of 139 Squadron became the first RAF aircraft to enter Germany in the Second World War on 3 September 1939, piloted by Flying Officer A. McPherson. He was awarded the DFC.<ref>1939 history</ref>

In 1942 it became the home of the Pathfinder Force under the command of Group Captain Don Bennett.<ref name=rafsite/>

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1935 and 1939:

No. 44 Squadron between 1937 and 1937.Template:Sfn
No. 114 Squadron between 1936 and 1939.Template:Sfn
No. 139 Squadron between 1936 and 1939.Template:Sfn

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1939 and 1945: Template:Columns-list

Cold War

After the war Wyton became home to the English Electric Canberras of the Strategic Reconnaissance Force.<ref name=vulcan>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Vickers Valiants arrived for No. 543 Squadron in 1955 and a Handley Page Victor arrived for the Radar Reconnaissance Flight in 1959.<ref name=vulcan/>

In 1974, three Nimrod R1s belonging to No. 51 Squadron arrived for use in the Elint and Sigint role, and in 1975, the T17 and T17A Canberras of No. 360 Squadron arrived: this was a joint RAF and RN Squadron specialising in Electronic countermeasures training.<ref name=vulcan/>

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1946 and 2011: Template:Columns-list

Post-Cold War

In the early 1990s one of its pilots was rugby union player Flight Lieutenant Rory Underwood.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During a four-month period in 1989, two squadrons of U.S. Air Force Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II jets were operated out of RAF Wyton while the runway at their base, nearby RAF Alconbury, was resurfaced.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In May 1995 both RAF Wyton and RAF Alconbury airfields were decommissioned and Wyton was formally amalgamated with RAF Brampton, and later with RAF Henlow to make all three locations a single RAF Station under a single station commander for administrative purposes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The airfield continued to host light aircraft for the Cambridge and London University Air Squadrons until they both moved to RAF Wittering in 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 25 March 2013 it was decided to relocate all flying units from Wyton due to the high maintenance costs of the airfield.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review the RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow formation was disbanded: RAF Henlow subsequently became a separate station again and RAF Brampton was demolished.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Intelligence stationEdit

The Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG), a unit which was responsible for the collection of signals, geospatial, imagery and measurement and signature intelligence,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> moved from Feltham in Middlesex to RAF Wyton in 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 42 Engineer Regiment relocated from Denison Barracks in Hermitage to RAF Wyton to co-locate with the Joint Forces Intelligence Group in July 2014<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron moved from RAF Marham to Wyton in April 2017.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2016, JFIG disbanded, and the bulk of its former units and capabilities were re-rolled to establish the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence.<ref name=":1" /> The NCGI is a 1-star commanded organisation<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which in recent years has monitored military and terrorist activities taking place in real time, such as:

HMS Diamond in operations against the Houthis in the Red Sea
Unidentified radio signals coming from the Yemeni coast
Different types of drones being used by Russia in Ukraine, including the physical analysis of Russian Orlan-10 and Iranian Shaheed 131 UAVs
Development of Chinese DF-17 hypersonic missiles
Pyongyang sending artillery rounds and missiles to Russian forces in Ukraine

It is also involved in homeland security and played a vital part in the Salisbury poisoning investigation by tracing the Novichok trail.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

File:Wyton hangars 2013.JPG

Hangars in 2013

Former unitsEdit

Template:Div-col Other units moved (now disbanded)

The following other units were posted to Wyton at some point:<ref name="ABCT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF (June 1982 - July 1992)Template:Sfn
No. 2 Group Communication Flight RAF (January 1940 - May 1943)Template:Sfn
No. 4 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF became No. 1504 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (December 1940 - August 1942)Template:Sfn
No. 7 Group Communication Flight RAF (July 1940 - September 1941)Template:Sfn
8th Aero Squadron
No. 8 Group Communication Flight RAF (August 1942 - October 1945)Template:Sfn
No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group RAF (August 1942 - May 1943)Template:Sfn
No. 13 Aircraft Modification Unit RAF (March - August 1946)Template:Sfn
No. 70 (Bomber) Wing RAF
No. 231 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (July 1982 - December 1990, May 1991 - April 1993)Template:Sfn
No. 1323 (Canberra) Flight RAF (October 1953 - November 1955)Template:Sfn
No. 1409 (Meteorological) Flight RAF (January - July 1945)Template:Sfn
No. 1499 (Bombing) Gunnery Flight RAF (March - June 1943)Template:Sfn
No. 1655 Mosquito Training Unit RAF
No. 2730 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2763 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2781 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2844 Squadron RAF Regiment
Canberra Air Race Flight RAF (June - October 1953)Template:Sfn
Canberra Standardisation and Training Flight RAF (December 1990 - May 1991)Template:Sfn
Electronic Warfare Division RAF became Electronic Warfare Detachment RAF (Unknown - December 1994)Template:Sfn
Electronic Warfare Engineering and Training Unit RAF (-1976) became Electronic Warfare and Avionics Unit RAF (1976-1993)Template:Sfn
Electronic Warfare Operational Support Establishment RAF (1983-1995) becoming part of Air Warfare Centre 1993Template:Sfn
Equipment Support (Air) Group RAF (November 1999 - unknown)Template:Sfn
Ground Controlled Approach Operators School RAF (March 1952)Template:Sfn
Logistics Command RAF (April 1995 - April 2000)Template:Sfn
Radar Reconnaissance Flight RAF (October 1955 - September 1961)Template:Sfn
Cambridgeshire Police Air Operations Unit

Currently operational units moved

On 25 March 2013 it was decided to relocate the following flying units from Wyton due to the high maintenance costs of the airfield.<ref name="DERU">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

57(R) Squadron relocated to RAF Cranwell in Summer 2013.<ref name="DERU" />
Cambridge University Air Squadron relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.<ref name="DERU" />
University of London Air Squadron relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.<ref name="DERU" />
5 Air Experience Flight also relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.<ref name="DERU" />

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Based unitsEdit

Notable units based at RAF Wyton.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break