Istres-Le Tubé Air Base
Istres-Le Tubé Air Base AMSL | 162 ft / 49 m | ||||||||||
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Coordinates | 43°31′28″N 4°56′30″E / 43.52444°N 4.94167°E | ||||||||||
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Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (French: Base Aérienne 125 or BA 125) is a large multi-role tasked French Air and Space Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France. The airport facilities are also known as Istres - Le Tubé (ICAO airport code: LFMI).
Operational units and uses
French Air and Space Force
The user of the base is the French Air and Space Force with several operational units on the base, including:
- Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol et de Transport 1/31 Bretagne[3]
- Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol 4/31 Sologne[3]
- DAMS 11.004 (Dépôt atelier de munitions spéciales) or Air-Sol Moyenne Portée ASMP-A missiles to be used by fighter squadron 2/4 in its deterrent role.[4]
- Air defence squadron 01.950 responsible for the base air defense.
- 25th Air Engineer Regiment[3]
- Guard detachment (Fusiliers Commandos de l'Air) responsible for the base security and ground defences.
Other uses
The base also hosts a helicopter squadron and a large repair and training facility. In addition, it also includes
Secondary users occasionally include the
World War II
Built prior to World War II, Istres Air Base was first used by the French Air Force during the early part of the war, and after the 1940 Battle of France and the June Armistice with Nazi Germany, became part of the limited (French: Armée de l'Air de Vichy) air force of the Vichy Government. It was attacked on several missions by Allied bombers based in England while under German control after November 1942. It was seized by Allied forces during Operation Dragoon, the Invasion of Southern France in August 1944 and was repaired and placed into operational use by the United States Army Air Forces XII Engineer Command, being turned over to Twelfth Air Force on 27 August 1944.
The airfield was designated by the Americans as Istres/Le Tubé Airfield or
The main USAAF use of Istres was by the
With the end of the war, the Americans used Istres as a staging point between Occupied Germany and Morocco for air transport of personnel back to the United States. It was returned to full French control in October 1945.[8]
Sometime after World War II, until May 1958, Base Aérienne 125 was host to the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and Commonwealth military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom. In May 1958, the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, moved to Base Aérienne 115 Orange-Caritat where it continued into the early 1960s.
Incidents
On 31 March 1992,
-
Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
-
C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
-
RIAT, England
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground
References
- ^ Airport information for LFMI[usurped] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
- ^ Airport information for QIE at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ^ a b c "Chiffres clés de l'Armée de l'air - L'Armée de l'air en chiffres : 2019-2020 (FR)". French Air and Space Force. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ^ "Appendix 2: List of Airbases and Their Principal Activities". 2006 Finance Bill: Defense - Air Forces (in French). French Senate. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
- ^ http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-769655.html, Washington Post, January 6, 1996
- ^ "France to assist NASA with the future launches of the Space Shuttle". Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ "Caractéristiques". Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. OCLC 72556.
- Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983.
- ^ ""31 March 1992 - Transair 671" (transcript)". Cockpit Voice Recorder Database. tailstrike.com (site not responding on 5 March 2008). Archived from the original on 2004-10-15.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
- Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA). Archived from the originalon 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
External links
- Official BA125 site (French)
- Strike squadron 3/4 Limousin site (French)
- Tanker squadron 00.093 Bretagne site (French)