RAF Fairford Royal Air Force Station Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) station in Gloucestershire , England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use . Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B - 52 s during the 2003 Iraq War , Operation Allied Force in 1999 , and the first Gulf War in 1991 . It is the US Air Force ' s only European airfield for heavy bombers . RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA ' s Space Shuttle in the UK . As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing ( the runway is long ) , it also had NASA - trained fire and medical crews stationed on the airfield . The runway is rated with an unrestricted load - bearing capacity , meaning that it can support any aircraft with any type of load . RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo ( RIAT ) , an annual air display . RIAT is one of the largest airshows in the world , with the 2003 show recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest military airshow ever , with an attendance of 535 aircraft . U . S . Air Force units . On 14 January 2004 , the 420th Air Base Group ( 420 ABG ) was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units ( GSUs ) that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall . These units are assigned to airfields at RAF Fairford , RAF Croughton , RAF Alconbury , RAF Molesworth and RAF Menwith Hill . The 420 ABG reported directly to 3rd Air Force until 26 May 2004 , when the 38th Combat Support Wing ( 38 CSW ) was established at Sembach Annex , Germany . On 12 May 2005 , USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing , with headquarters at RAF Alconbury , to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom . The Airmen of the 501st CSW focus on units that , by their nature , are separated from main operating stations of RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath . A command staff of about 30 people is assigned . The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day to day operations of RAF Fairford , ensuring that it has adequate resources . History . Royal Air Force . RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D - Day invasion of Normandy during World War II . In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) would be based in the UK . Bases had already been established in East Anglia , at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath , but they were considered to be vulnerable to bomber attack and airfields further behind the RAF fighter defences were sought . Four RAF airfields were selected to receive SAC units — RAF Brize Norton , RAF Fairford , RAF Greenham Common and RAF Upper Heyford . In 1948 the Americans occupied RAF stations including Fairford , Brize Norton , Burtonwood , Greenham Common , Mildenhall , Lakenheath and Woodbridge to build up a deterrent in Europe against the Soviets . RAF Lyneham ' s position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos . 30 and 47 Squadrons were transferred from their old base at RAF Fairford . U . S . Air Force . In 1950 , as a result of the beginning of the Cold War , the airfield was transferred to the U . S . Air Force for strategic bomber operations . A runway was constructed for long - range bomber operations . The runway was completed in 1953 , and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B - 36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base , Texas . The airfield later received B - 47 s which were maintained at a heightened state of alert because of increased tensions with the Soviet Union . Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft , which continued until 1977 . The U . S . Air Force returned with KC - 135 Stratotanker s deployed on rotation from the many KC - 135 bases in the USA . On 15 November 1978 the 11th Strategic Group was activated at Fairford . It was not manned until the following February and did not start receiving aircraft until September 1978 . It soon began aerial refueling support for all USAF operations , deployments and redeployments , as well as participating in NATO exercises . Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned , but aircraft , aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation . Aircraft and crews operated from Riyadh , Saudi Arabia ; Keflavik , Iceland ; Zaragosa , Spain ; Lajes Field , Azores ; Sigonella NAS , Italy ; and Hellenikon , Greece . The unit retained the 11th Strategic Group designation , but was inactivated on 7 August 1990 . KC - 135 and KC - 10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986 . The KC - 135s and KC - 10s were withdrawn in 1990 and the station was returned to standby status , upgraded to ' limited use ' in the mid - 1990s . In 2010 , military personnel were removed , leaving a civilian operating unit . Due to RAF Fairford ' s location and infrastructure , the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force . It was used in the first Gulf War in 1991 , with B - 52s and KC - 135s from Eaker AFB in Arkansas . It was later used during Operation Allied Force in 1999 when B - 52s from Barksdale AFB , B - 1B s from Ellsworth AFB and KC - 135s from Mountain Home AFB were used . During that conflict , Fairford - based bombers dropped 48 % of the ordnance dropped by NATO on targets in the former Yugoslavia . In the 2003 Iraq War , Operation Iraqi Freedom included B - 52s based at Minot AFB but flying from Fairford . In recent years the airfield has been occasionally used by American B - 2 Spirit stealth bombers and is frequently visited by transient U - 2 aircraft . Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission , RAF Fairford underwent a $ 100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War . This work lasted from May 2000 through May 2002 . Additional improvements continued until 2008 , including the construction of two climate - controlled hangars for B - 2 stealth bombers and a low - observability maintenance dock . On 15 September 2009 , it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010 , after which it will be run on a " care and maintenance " basis . However the base will remain a designated standby airfield , capable of immediate reactivation within 24 – 48 hours and continue to host the Royal International Air Tattoo .