Everything about Raf Mount Pleasant totally explained
RAF Mount Pleasant (also known as
Mount Pleasant Airport,
Mount Pleasant Complex or
MPA) is a military base for the
Royal Air Force in the
British Overseas Territory of the
Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the
British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI). The base, home to anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 British military personnel, is located about thirty miles southwest of
Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, on the island of
East Falkland. The world's longest corridor, a half-mile long, links barracks, messes and recreational and welfare areas of the base.
The base is occasionally referred to by its residents as the
Death Star because of its sometimes confusing layout.
History
RAF Mount Pleasant is the most recent purpose-built airfield in the
Royal Air Force. The RAF previously had a small base at
Stanley just after the end of the hostilities in 1982. During the
Falklands War when the islands were occupied by
Argentine military forces,
British aircraft were sent to disable the runway with RAF
Strike Command Vulcan bombers (
Operation Black Buck) and
Royal Navy Sea Harriers. The raids were highly successful, as on the first mission, one 1,000 lb bomb hit the runway in the middle, temporarily disabling it. The Argentines were able to use the runway until the end of the conflict to allow C130 transport planes carrying supplies to arrive. After the war the runway was fully repaired by British military engineers.
After the surrender of the Argentine ground forces on the islands, the British still faced the problem of potential
Argentine air attacks from the Argentine homeland, so an aircraft carrier had to remain on station to guard the islands with its squadron of Sea Harriers until the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft.
HMS Hermes was the first to take guard duty, whilst
HMS Invincible went north to change a gearbox that had broken while departing the mainland UK. The Argentines claimed the aircraft carrier was hit on
May 30, and needed repairs.
Invincible then returned to relieve
Hermes which urgently needed to return to the UK to have its boilers cleaned.
Invincible returned until the ship was relieved by the newly built
HMS Illustrious, which was quickly rushed south and commissioned during the journey. Once the Port Stanley runway was available for jets,
Illustrious was relieved by several RAF
Phantom FGR.2.
The British government later decided to construct a new RAF base as the centrepiece of plans to considerably strengthen the island's defences. This was intended to deter any future Argentine attempts to take the islands by force again. Mount Pleasant, to the west of Stanley, was chosen as the site for the new base. The airfield was opened by
Prince Andrew in 1985, and became fully operational in 1986..
Current equipment
RAF Mount Pleasant has a wide range of social and sporting facilities including a gym, swimming pool, golf course, diving centre, karting, laserquest, library, cinema, bowling, climbing wall, indoor and outdoor sports pitches. There are two
NAAFI shops, hairdressers, medical centre, and education centre on the base. There is also a complex that includes a café and a small shop (RONOKEs), which are both owned and run by the
Falkland Islands Company.
Currently based at Mount Pleasant are
No. 1435 Flight with 4
Tornado F3s,
No. 1312 Flight, with a single
VC-10 tanker and one
Hercules C130, as well as No.
No.1564 Flight (since November 2007) with 2
Sea King helicopters maintained by
SKIOS (Sea King Integrated Operational Support), an aeronautical engineering confrontation between
Augusta Westland and
VT Aerospace. There are also 2
Sikorsky S61 civilian Helicopters run by British International Helicopters Limited (Brintel). Ground units include No 7, 303, and 751 Signals Units and a
Rapier detachment from the
RAF Regiment.
The 33 Engineer Regiment (EOD) provides a constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of
RAF and
RLC EOD teams. It is mainly based in
Stanley but there's also a detachment at Mount Pleasant. The group destroys munitions from the
Falklands War that didn't explode at the time and briefs troops, tourists and citizens on the areas which are safe and the minefield marking which have been put in place.
There is also a Joint Communications Unit (JCU) providing the
electronic warfare and command and control systems for the
Royal Navy,
Army and
Air Force stationed there.
Passenger flights
Using the
IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role. Flights open to civilian passengers are operated six times each month. Since autumn 2007 these flights have been operated by a civilian airline,
Omni Air International, on behalf of the Royal Air Force. They fly to and from
RAF Brize Norton in
Oxfordshire, with a refuelling stop at
RAF Ascension Island in the south-central
Atlantic Ocean. These flights currently use
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft although occasionally RAF
Lockheed Tristar freight aircraft and an
Antonov An-225 bring in larger items of freight.
Additionally, every Saturday
LAN Airlines operates scheduled commercial flights to the city of
Punta Arenas in southern
Chile stopping at
Río Gallegos,
Argentina once a month.
Airlines and Destinations
Further Information
Get more info on 'Raf Mount Pleasant'.
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