Laikipia Air Base
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Laikipia Air Base (IATA: n/a, ICAO: n/a) is a Kenya Air Force base located approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west-northwest of Nanyuki, Kenya.
Laikipia AB was established in 1974 as Nanyuki Air Base and later renamed for the county in which it is located.
History
By the beginning of April 1942, No. 72 Operational Training Unit RAF were setting up at RAF Nanyuki having been moved from Wadi Gazouza in
RAF Nanyuki was being used for anti-Mau Mau operations in 1953-54.[2]
On 25 February 1974, Nanyuki Air Base was opened by the
After the
In August 2014, gunmen drove into one of the airfield's gate and opened fire. One soldier was injured.[4]
British presence
In 2015, the UK began an infrastructure project to relocate the HQ for its British Army training unit in Kenya, named the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), to Laikipia Air Base.[5] The HQ is located within an area designated Laikipia Air Base East (LAB(E)). Previously, it was located on land leased from the Nanyuki Agricultural Society, which had to be vacated every year to make way for an agricultural show. LAB(E) now provides permanent facilities on land leased directly from the Kenyan government.[6] BATUK is used to train around 10,000 British troops per year and has 300 permanent personnel.[7]
References
- ^ "NAW How". www.211squadron.org. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
- ^ RAF Nanyuki, Kenya: Mau Mau operations. 1953–1954.
- ^ "Ministry of Defence- Kenya". www.mod.go.ke. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ "Unknown gunmen drive into Laikipia Air Base gate, shoot at soldiers injuring one". standardmedia.co.ke.
- GOV.UK. Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
- GOV.UK. Inside DIO. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- BFBS. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
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