RAF Fylingdales
RAF Fylingdales Wg Cdr Thomas Colledge |
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Royal Air Force Fylingdales or more simply RAF Fylingdales is a
History
Cold War
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/RAF_Fylingdales_golfballs_1989.jpg/220px-RAF_Fylingdales_golfballs_1989.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Radar_RAF_Fylingdales.jpg/220px-Radar_RAF_Fylingdales.jpg)
The station was sited on a former wartime mortar range on Snod Hill, which had to be comprehensively cleared by
Between 1989
The radar system was upgraded in 2007 by
National Missile Defence
In the late 1990s, the United States decided to pursue a
Operation
BMEWS
While the radar station remains a British asset operated and commanded by the Royal Air Force, it also forms one of three stations in the United States BMEWS network (the United States also funds the cost of the radar units). The other two stations in the network are
The British Government advised in March 2018, that as of the beginning of that month, fewer than five United States military personnel and ten US contractors worked at the station.[19]
Space Delta 4 of the United States Space Force, maintains a liaison officer at Fylingdales to act as link to US missile warning operations and advises the RAF station commander on operational issues.[20]
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The secondary role of detection and tracking of orbiting objects, also called Space Situational Awareness (SSA), as part of the United States Space Surveillance Network is carried out in conjunction with RAF High Wycombe.[4][21]
Systems
The primary radars of RAF Fylingdales are active electronically scanned array (AESA) phased array radars, mounted on each face of a truncated tetrahedron, typically referred to as the "pyramid" or the SSPAR (Solid State Phased Array Radar).[11] This makes Fylingdales unique amongst its peers in that it covers a full 360 degrees. Each of the three arrays is 84 feet (26 m) across[17] and contains around 2560 transmit/receive modules; mean power output is about 2.5 MW, with a tracking range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi).[22]
Protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The functions of RAF Fylingdales have been subject to criticism from opposition groups, such as the
Concerns over radiation levels
The radar beam has created serious concern of radiation risks due to leakage from the sides of the beam's "side lobes". Although the radiation levels are within UK limits (
2019 bomb hoax
On 26 August 2019, Laura Woodwardsmith telephoned North Yorkshire Police and made a bomb threat in relation to RAF Fylingdales. Although, the Ministry of Defence Police locked down the base as a precaution, it was later revealed that Woodwardsmith was both drunk and having a mental breakdown when making the threat.[24]
Guarding and security
The Northern Echo states that Fylingdales is guarded by 80 military policemen,[25] however RAF Fylingdales is guarded by the Ministry of Defence Guard Service (approx 19 officers) and Ministry of Defence Police (approx 60–100 officers[26]) neither of which operate under a military capacity.[27][28] The station has a checkpoint by the A169 roadside and further checkpoints at each of its fences. The outer fence is an 8000 volt electrified fence and all entrance gates can be locked and razor wire placed in the opening on metal truss frames.[26]
Cultural references
- The monitoring function is referred to in the Jethro Tull song "Fylingdale Flyer" which appears on the album A and in the Slipstream video.[29][30]
- In the Jodrell Bank and "the Fylingdale installations".[31]
- In the 1983 film The Day After, the Fylingdales facility is referred to 'as some place in England' with response to the early detection of a nuclear strike by two radar facilities (the other being Beale Air Force Base, California).[32]
- RAF Fylingdales can be seen in earlier episodes of the 1960s set ITV Drama Heartbeat, filmed in the village of Goathland just a few miles away.[33]
- Turning Fylingdales Inside Out is a Newcastle University project to make RAF Fylingdale's history visible to the public for the first time[34]
See also
- List of Royal Air Force stations
- Space Situational Awareness Programme
- GRAVES – French space surveillance system
References
Citations
- ^ a b "The changing faces of RAF Fylingdales". The Whitby Gazette. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "Fylingdales – Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament". yorkshirecnd.org.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons – Defence – Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Pike, John. "RAF Fylingdales". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "Subbrit: RSG: Sites: Fylingdales". www.subbrit.org.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "North York Moors early warning station marks anniversary". York Press. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^
Wilson, B. C. F. (1 January 1983). A History – Royal Air Force Fylingdales. Royal Air Force Flyingdales (1 January 1983). ISBN 0950852104.
[plaque in the Tactical Operations Room] This plaque commemorates the commissioning of Royal Air Force Fylingdales as Site III of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System on 17 September 1963. This site is a joint enterprise of the United States of America and Great Britain for the protection of both the North American Continent and the United Kingdom.
- ^ "Early Warning System has Important Role in NORAD". The Othello Outlook. Othello, Washington. 26 November 1964. p. 6.
- ^ "Fylingdales marks first 50 years". The Yorkshire Post. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ Willis, Joe (4 October 2013). "The mysterious base keeping watch over our skies for 50 years". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "Rural landmarks hiding science fiction technology". The Yorkshire Post. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ ISSN 0959-4132.
- ^ March 1993, p. 87.
- ^ "Upgraded Early Warning Radars (UEWR)". Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ a b "UK ready to help 'Son of Star Wars'". BBC News. 2003. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ a b "MoD denies US missiles set for UK". BBC News Online. 17 October 2004. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ a b Historic England. "RAF Fylingdales (1309868)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ "RAF Fylingdales maintains around the clock missile warning capability for both the U.S. and U.K". Peterson Space Force Base. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ Lancaster, Mark (6 March 2018). "USA: RAF Fylingdales:Written question – 130642". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ "Fact Sheet – Space Delta 4 – Missile Warning". Buckley Air Force Base. US Space Force. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ Bowen, Bleddyn (Summer 2019). "A Familiar Frontier: British Defence Strategy and Spacepower". Air and Space Power Review. 22 (2). Royal Air Force: 6–14. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ "RAF Fylingdales – Equipment". Ministry of Defence. 4 May 2012.
- ^ "CND calls 'No to US Missile Defence' demo at Fylingdales radar this Saturday – Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament". 9 June 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "2019 Bomb Hoax". The Scarborough News. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Chinese 'spied on secret moors base'". The Northern Echo.
- ^ a b "Heritage Gateway – Results". www.heritagegateway.org.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ "RAF space monitoring station reaches milestone". GOV.UK.
- ^ "Our locations". Ministry of Defence Police.
- ISBN 0-7864-1101-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-0-521-77120-7.
- ^ "Remembrance of the Daleks". BBC. 5 October 1988. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ "The Day After (1983 TV Movie)". IMDB. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ "Heartbeat (TV Series): Face Value (1992)". IMDB. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ "Opening the History of RAF Fylingdales to the Public". Newcastle University FROM blog. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
Bibliography
- Halpenny, B. B. (1982). Action Stations: Military Airfields of Yorkshire v. 4. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 978-0850595321.
- March, P. (1993). Royal Air Force Yearbook 1993. Fairford, UK: Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.
- Missile Defence: A Public Discussion Paper, Ministry of Defence, 9 December 2002
- Upgrade to RAF Fylingdales Early Warning Radar: Environment and Land Use Report Ministry of Defence, 16 June 2003
- Wilson, B. C. F. (1983). A history : Royal Air Force Fylingdales. Royal Air Force Fylingdales. ISBN 0950852104.
External links
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