No 1. Air Control Centre | |
---|---|
Active | 9 September 1965 – 24 September 1982 1 April 1995 – present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Type | Non-flying unit |
Role | Deployable Air Surveillance and Control system (ASACS) capability |
Part of | No. 1 Group |
Home station | RAF Boulmer |
Motto(s) | Ever Alert [1] |
No. 1 Air Control Centre (also known as 1 ACC) is a deployable mobile command and control unit of the Royal Air Force that is currently based at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland. The unit acts in conjunction with the Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) also at RAF Boulmer, but also detaches staff to overseas locations when the Royal Air Force is engaged in operations. Some of these postings are permanent, such as in the Falklands Islands and at Cyprus.
1 ACC's remit is to protect the United Kingdom's, and deployed airspace, from hostile aircraft.
No. 1 Air Control Centre started out as No. 9 Signals Unit (9 SU) at RAF Rattlesden in Suffolk in 1964. A year later it was renamed as No. 1 Air Control Centre, and remained at Rattlesden. In 1967, it moved to RAF Wattisham, where it remained until 1979 until it moved to Nancekuke in Cornwall (later RAF Portreath and then RRH Portreath). [2]
Between 2006 and 2009, No. 1 ACC was deployed to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick. [3] [4]
In 2008, plans were announced in Parliament to relocate 1 ACC from RAF Kirton in Lindsey and the CRC from Scampton to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. [5] Whilst this move did not proceed as intended, 1 ACC moved to RAF Scampton in 2012 and the technical site at RAF Kirton in Lindsey was sold off, although the domestic site was retained for RAF personnel. [6]
In 2018, the RAF announced that RAF Scampton would close by 2022, which would involve moving all units out of the station to other locations. [7] 1 ACC moved to RAF Boulmer in early 2023, just before Scampton’s closure on 31 March 2023.
Staffing of the unit fluctuates with demand and role, but in 2015, the number of personnel at the unit was around 220. [8]
The main role of 1 ACC is to provide deployed air control operations, both in the United Kingdom and on deployed operations worldwide. [9] [10] Whilst working in the United Kingdom, 1 ACC feeds into the CRC at RAF Boulmer and helps to protect UK airspace from hostile aircraft. [11] [12]
The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory and, as such, rely on the United Kingdom for the guarantee of their security. The other UK territories in the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, fall under the protection of British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI), formerly known as British Forces Falkland Islands (BFFI), which includes commitments from the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. They are headed by the Commander, British Forces South Atlantic Islands (CBFSAI), a brigadier-equivalent appointment that rotates among all three services.
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force (RAF) based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams that had been sponsored by RAF commands.
RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" and is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI). Home to between 1,000 and 2,000 British military personnel, it is about 33 miles (53 km) southwest of Stanley, the capital of the Falklands—on the island of East Falkland. The world's longest corridor, 2,600 feet (800 m) long, links the barracks, messes, and recreational and welfare areas of the station, and was nicknamed the "Death Star Corridor" by personnel.
Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located beside the village of Waddington, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England.
Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton was a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west of the city of Lincoln, England.
Royal Air Force Boulmer or RAF Boulmer is a Royal Air Force station near Alnwick in Northumberland, England, and is home to Aerospace Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) Force Command, Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) Boulmer.
Royal Air Force Buchan or more simply RAF Buchan is a former Royal Air Force station near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Royal Air Force Station Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham was, between 1939 and 1993, the name of a Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front-line air force base, operating Quick Reaction Alert (South), before closing as an Royal Air Force station in 1993. Since 1993 it has been operated by the British Army as Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Wattisham, or Wattisham Airfield.
No. 11 Group is a group in the Royal Air Force first formed in 1918. It had been formed and disbanded for various periods during the 20th century before disbanding in 1996 and reforming again in 2018. Its most famous service was in 1940 in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War, when it defended London and the south-east of the United Kingdom from attacks by the German Luftwaffe. It was reformed in late 2018 as a "multi-domain operations group" to ensure the service thinks and acts in a networked way.
No. 9 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force.
No. 202 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the maritime and mountains training element of the No.1 Flying Training School, operating the Airbus Helicopters H145 Jupiter.
No. 74 Squadron, also known as 'Tiger Squadron' from its tiger-head motif, was a squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It operated fighter aircraft from 1917 to the 1990s, and then trainer aircraft until its disbandment in 2000. It was the Royal Air Force's member of the NATO Tiger Association from 1961 until the squadron's disbandment, it has since been replaced by No. 230 Squadron.
Number 56 Squadron, nicknamed the Firebirds for their ability to always reappear intact regardless of the odds, is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both the First and Second World Wars.
The Mobile Meteorological Unit (MMU) provides meteorological and environmental support to deployed elements of the UK’s joint forces, in order to enhance the effectiveness of national or combined contingency operations. Principally but not exclusively aviation at target, base and the route in between.
Royal Air Force Kirton in Lindsey or more simply RAF Kirton in Lindsey is a former Royal Air Force station located 15 miles (24 km) north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) is state of readiness and modus operandi of air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces. The United States usually refers to Quick Reaction Alert as 'Airspace Control Alert'.
No. 16 Squadron RAF Regiment was a field squadron of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The squadron operated mostly outside the United Kingdom since its formation in 1948 until 2006 when it was disbanded. It started out as a field squadron before becoming involved in the GBAD programme, where it operated the Rapier missile system.
Remote Radar Head Brizlee Wood, is an air defence radar station operated by the Royal Air Force located at Brizlee Wood, near Alnwick in Northumberland, England. Originally opened as an Ace High site in the early 1960s, it now forms part of the Air Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) of the Royal Air Force.
RAF Hospital Ely, was a Royal Air Force staffed military hospital in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The hospital opened in 1940, and was one of a handful of Second World War era RAF hospitals that were kept open post Second World War, remaining a military asset until 1992, although it also treated non-service patients, usually those who lived locally. On closure, the hospital became a civilian hospital under the NHS. Although not located on an established RAF Base, RAFH Ely was located within 50 miles (80 km) of forty RAF bases in the Second World War.