page_title: Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom
section_title: Reflex deployments
hierarchical_section_title: Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom / B-47 deployments / Reflex deployments
caption_attribution_description: English: 100th Bombardment Wing Boeing B-47 parked at RAF Bruntingthorpe
context_page_description: Between 1948 and 1992, personnel and aircraft of the US Strategic Air Command were deployed to bases in England. An informal agreement to base SAC bombers in the UK was reached between US General Carl Spaatz, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, in July 1946. At that time there were only three bases in the UK deemed suitable for operating Boeing B-29 Superfortresses: RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe. These were airbases that had been extended during World War II when there were plans to use B-29s against Germany. When the Berlin Blockade began in June 1948, two B-29 groups deployed to the UK, but neither was equipped with Silverplate bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Nuclear-capable Boeing B-50 Superfortress bombers began deploying in 1949, and nuclear bombs followed in 1950.
  The original bases in East Anglia were considered inadequate for the deployment of the forces called for called for in the Offtackle war plan, and there were concerns that they were exposed to a surprise attack from the North Sea.
context_section_description: In 1958 TDY postings were replaced by a new system of overseas deployments called Reflex. A permanent SAC presence was established, with a SAC airbase group permanently assigned to each base: the 3909th at RAF Greenham Common, 3910th at RAF Lakenheath, 3911th at RAF Sculthorpe, 3912th at RAF Bruntingthorpe, 3913th at RAF Mildenhall, 3914th at RAF Chelveston, 3915th at RAF Marham, 3916th at RAF Lindholme, 3917th at RAF Manston, 3918th at RAF Upper Heyford, 3919th at RAF Fairford, and 3920th at RAF Brize Norton. Ninety-day deployments of entire wings were replaced by twenty-one-day deployments of two or three aircraft and crews that were kept on full alert status for two weeks, which meant bombers and tankers were on the runway, fuelled and armed with a Mark 39 nuclear bomb, and ready to take off at 15 minutes notice. In addition to improving SAC's alert posture, Reflex resulted in considerable savings. The 1956 deployment of the 307th Bombardment Wing involved moving 1,600 personnel and 190 tons of cargo at a cost of $42,428,000 (equivalent to $306 million in 2019). Reflex deployments reduced the cost by about 40 percent. The last ninety-day rotation was of the 100th Bombardment Wing at RAF Brize Norton between December 1957 and April 1958.
  In July 1959, President Charles de Gaulle ordered all nuclear-capable US aircraft to leave France, and USAFE units based there had to relocate to West Germany or the UK. SAC therefore handed RAF Bruntingthorpe, RAF Chelveston, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall over to USAFE. Looking forward to 1965–1970, SAC planner believed that keeping the B-47 viable would require considerable amount of upgrades, including the installation of electronic countermeasures, air-to-surface missiles, and improved radar and terrain avoidance systems to permit operations at low level. Funds for such upgrades was scarce, and the cost-benefit was questionable. It was therefore decided that the B-47 would be phased out. This was temporarily halted by the Berlin Crisis of 1961, when 48 B-47 bombers and 20 EB-47 electronic warfare stood alert in the UK, and the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year, which saw 56 B-47s and 22 EB-47s on alert in the UK.
  By the following year the Kennedy administration had become concerned at the drain on US gold reserves caused by payments to foreign countries in exchange for basing rights. The British government saw things differently; the USAF presence in the UK was estimated to be worth £55 million (equivalent to £1.2 billion in 2019) to the British economy. Reflex was terminated at RAF Fairford and RAF Greenham Common on 1 July 1964, and the two bases reverted to RAF control. In April 1965, Reflex ceased at RAF Brize Norton, which reverted to the RAF, and RAF Upper Heyford, which was transferred to the USAFE, and the 7th Air Division was inactivated on 30 June 1965.
caption: 100th Bombardment Wing B-47E parked at RAF Bruntingthorpe in 1958.
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