RAF Ascension Island , also known as Wideawake Airfield or Ascension Island Auxiliary Field, is a military airfield and facility located on

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

in the Atlantic Ocean. The airfield is jointly operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Space Force (USSF). Under the terms of an international agreement between the UK and US governments, only state aircraft (e.g. military and diplomatic flights) are authorised to land at Ascension; however, it is also open to air services between

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

and Ascension. The facility is home to a U.S. Space Force ground tracking station in support of the Eastern Range and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

History

In 1939 Ascension became important as a high-frequency direction finding radio station covering trade routes. Wideawake Airfield (named after a noisy colony of

sooty tern The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeu ...

s nearby) was built by the US military in 1942 by arrangement with the British government. The airfield was built using a US task force. The work was done by the USAAF 38th Engineer Combat Regiment and the airfield opened on 10 July 1942. The first aircraft to land on Ascension Island was a Fairey Swordfish from HMS ''Archer'' in June, 1942 and it went on to be used by more than 25,000 aircraft as a staging point during the Second World War. A U.S. Air Force tracking station (now administered by the

U.S. Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

) was officially activated as a satellite of Patrick Air Force Base (now Patrick Space Force Base) in Florida on 25 June 1956. The airfield's runway was extended in the latter part of 1980. The base was re-garrisoned by the RAF in 1982 and used extensively as a staging airfield during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

. At one stage, Wideawake became the busiest airport in the world for the number of aircraft movements. A series of long-range bombing raids was carried out from there under the name Operation Black Buck. The first mission was on 30 April 1982. In 2017 a parliamentary answer disclosed the runway needed a 'full depth resurfacing'. In June 2020 the U.S. Department of Defense announced the runway would be repaired, with a completion date in 2022 after eighteen months work; until then commercial flights were suspended. The USAF relies upon contractors to maintain the airfield facilities and the satellite station. An update is underway, with a completion date in 2025.

Target Tracking Radar Station

The Target Tracking Radar Station was a Nike Zeus test facility for tracking reentry vehicles from Cape Canaveral missile launches. Built from 1960-1961 for

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...

measurement, the "Golf Ball" radar antenna was on Cat Hill, and a collimation tower for radar calibration was towards English Bay. The facility is home to the Detachment 2 of the 45th Mission Support Group, part of the U.S. Space Force's Delta 45. It operates a ground tracking station in support of the Eastern Range and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The NASA Tracking Station at Devil's Ashpit and the Cable & Wireless Earth Station at Donkey Plain were built in the mid-1960s for space operations and communications, including the latter's use for transmitting "microwave borne data via the

Early Bird Satellite Intelsat I (nicknamed Early Bird for the proverb "The early bird catches the worm") was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, on April 6, 1965. It was built by the Space and Communications Group of ...

back to the NASA facility at Andover, Maine".

Operations

The station comes under the overall jurisdiction of the Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands, an officer of one-star rank. , the incumbent is Commodore Jonathan Lett. The RAF airfield on Ascension Island is run on a day-to-day basis by around 19 RAF personnel, headed by a wing commander. RAF Ascension Island is normally the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic air bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK. Beginning in November 2017, the Ascension Island Government has contracted South African air carrier Airlink to conduct regularly scheduled charter flights between

Saint Helena Airport Saint Helena Airport is an international airport on Saint Helena, a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean, in the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha. The construction of the runway was finishe ...

and Ascension Island on a monthly basis. Flights are currently scheduled on the second week of every month, arriving at Ascension on Saturday afternoon and returning to

on Sunday morning. The first of these flights are scheduled for 18 and 19 November 2017. Additionally civilian passengers had been permitted on flights to and from RAF Brize Norton with reservations handled by AW Ship Management, with some customers doing package deals combined with the RMS ''Saint Helena'', which travelled between Saint Helena and Cape Town, South Africa until the opening of St Helena Airport to passenger flights. Ascension serves as a diversion airport for ETOPS aircraft crossing the Atlantic. In January 2013, a Delta Air Lines

Boeing 777-200LR The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

en route from Johannesburg to Atlanta diverted to Ascension as a result of engine problems. The site is home to a

high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten ...

radio station forming part of the Defence High Frequency Communications Service. The station is operated by

Babcock International Group Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

on behalf of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Suspension of operations and runway repair

Potholes on the runway led to the suspension in April 2017 of all Ministry of Defence South Atlantic Air Bridge Flights between RAF Mount Pleasant and RAF Brize Norton until at least 2019/2020. An Airbus A330 aircraft operated by AirTanker Services on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) carried out those flights although a limited number of commercial passenger tickets were available. Those flights now travel via Dakar. Planes for emergency medical evacuation flights and the newly established monthly charter flight to

are not impacted given the size of aircraft used. Essential personnel and equipment are also exempt from the suspension. In February 2021, an RAF A400M aircraft delivered Covid-19 vaccines to the island. While A330s were unable to land at the airport until the repair reached a stage to permit the resumption of full flight operations, the United States military continued to maintain a weekly flight between the island and Patrick Space Force Base in Florida, only for the use of its personnel, while the MV ''Ascension'' supply ship regularly services US facilities. Ascension Island eastern runway reopens

A repair project aimed at restoring service to the airport celebrated its halfway point in March 2022. In August 2022, the eastern portion of the runway was completed, allowing full flight operations to resume, with a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III of the

21st Airlift Squadron The 21st Airlift Squadron is part of the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California. It operates C-17 Globemaster III aircraft carrying out United States Air Force global transport missions, duties which involve airlift and ai ...

being the first aircraft to use the improved runway on 31 August 2022. The repairs to the western side of the runway are expected to be completed in Spring of 2023.

Based units

Units based at Ascension Island.

Strategic Command

Director of Overseas Bases * British Forces South Atlantic Islands ** RAF Ascension Island

United States Space Force

Space Operations Command (SpOC) * Space Launch Delta 45 ** 45th Mission Support Group *** Detachment 2

Airlines and destinations

On 18 November 2017,

SA Airlink Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline has ...

started a scheduled weekly charter from

Longwood, Saint Helena Longwood is a settlement and a district of the British island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Description In 2021, Longwood had a population of 765, compared with a population of 960 in 1998. The area of the district is . The district ...

to the island.

References

External links

*
Ascension Island Government – Travel to Ascension by AirFAA Airport Data and Information Portal – (FHAW) Ascension Aux AF

UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Ascension / Wideawake (FHAW)
{{authority control

Airports on Ascension Island Serco United Kingdom–United States relations Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command on Atlantic Ocean islands 1942 establishments in Saint Helena and Dependencies World War II airfields World War II Sites in Saint Helena and Dependencies Overseas or abroad military installations Military of Ascension Island