Istres-Le Tubé Air Base ( or BA 125) is a large multi-role tasked

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air F ...

base located near Istres, northwest of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France. The airport facilities are also known as Istres - Le Tubé (

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published quarterly in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indic ...

: LFMI).

Operational units and uses

French Air and Space Force

The user of the base is the

with several operational units on the base, including: * Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol et de Transport Stratégiques 1/31 Bretagne * Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol et de Transport Stratégiques 2/31 Esterel * Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol 4/31 Sologne * DAMS 11.004 (''Dépôt atelier de munitions spéciales'') or

Special ammunition storage {{unreferenced, date=November 2014 Weapon storage areas (WSA), also known as special ammunition storage (SAS), were extremely well guarded and well defended locations where NATO nuclear weapons were stored during the Cold War era. In most situatio ...

, responsible for the hardened storage of the nuclear mid-range Air-Sol Moyenne Portée ASMP-A missiles to be used by fighter squadron 2/4 in its deterrent role. * Air defence squadron 01.950 responsible for the base air defense. * 25th Air Engineer Regiment * Guard detachment ( Fusiliers Commandos de l'Air) responsible for the base security and ground defences.

Other uses

The base also hosts a helicopter squadron and a large repair and training facility. In addition, it also includes EPNER (École du Personnel Navigant d’Essais et de Réception); test facilities for DGA Essais en vol,

Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (Marcel Bloch Aircraft Company). After ...

SNECMA Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It d ...

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

and some aeronautical units of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. More than 5,000 personnel work on the base. Secondary users occasionally include the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

(USAF), during Allied operations engaging United States and France. During

Operation Allied Force The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

, USAF

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

s and

Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed the "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-engine, high–altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since the 1950s. Designed for all- ...

s operated out of the base. Istres was the home of U-2 detachment OL-FR (Operating Location-FRance). Istres was also designated by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as a contingency landing site for the

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in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL). The base's runway is long and wide. An additional overrun area long was built for Airbus Industries in 1992. It has the same characteristics as the runway, making it the longest runway in Western Europe and thus suited to Shuttle landings.

World War II

Built prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Istres Air Base was first used by the French Air Force during the early part of the war, and after the 1940

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

and the June Armistice with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, became part of the limited () air force of the

Vichy Government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

. It was attacked on several missions by Allied bombers based in England while under German control after November 1942. It was seized by Allied forces during

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), known as Débarquement de Provence in French ("Provence Landing"), was the code name for the landing operation of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15Augu ...

, the Invasion of Southern France in August 1944 and was repaired and placed into operational use by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

XII Engineer Command, being turned over to

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

on 27 August 1944. The airfield was designated by the Americans as Istres/Le Tubé Airfield or Advanced Landing Ground Y-17. It was also given the AAF designation of USAAF Station 196. Twelfth Air Force initially assigned the

324th Fighter Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

to the airfield on 2 September, with

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s. However the 324th only remained a few days before moving forward to Amberieu on 6 September. The main USAAF use of Istres was by the 64th Troop Carrier Group, which operated

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

transports from the airfield from September to November 1944. When the combat units moved north into eastern France, Istres was used by

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...

as a transshipment point for supplies and Allied personnel, being administratively controlled by the 1411th Army Air Force Base Unit. With the end of the war, the Americans used Istres as a staging point between Occupied Germany and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

for air transport of personnel back to the United States. It was returned to full French control in October 1945. * Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . * * Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Sometime after World War II, until May 1958, Base Aérienne 125 was host to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom. In May 1958, the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, moved to Base Aérienne 115 Orange-Caritat where it continued into the early 1960s.

Incidents

On 31 March 1992,

Trans-Air Service Flight 671 Trans-Air Service Flight 671 was a cargo flight from Luxembourg Airport to Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria. While flying over France on 31 March 1992, the Boeing 707 operating the flight experienced an in-flight separat ...

, a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

, made an

emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...

at Istres after engines 3 and 4 had separated from the wing in

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

at . The aircraft performed a flapless, downwind landing with a touch-down speed of nearly and the right wing on fire from the pouring fuel. The gear failed and the aircraft slid off the far end of the

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

, but the crew of five survived and the cargo was saved. The incident brought to light severe deficiencies in Kabo Air's operations — the aircraft had passed mandatory maintenance and was overloaded. Image:Mirage2000Nimousin.jpg, Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin" Image:C135FRGRV093.jpg, C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne" Image:Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000N (code 375) of the French Air Force arrives Fairford 7Jul2016 arp.jpg, Mirage 2000N based at Istres arrives at the 2016 RIAT, England

References

External links

Official BA125 site
(French)
Strike squadron 3/4 Limousin site
(French)
Tanker squadron 00.093 Bretagne site
(French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Istres-Le Tube Air Base Aerospace research institutes Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1917 Aviation history of France French Air and Space Force bases Military research installations World War II airfields in France 1917 establishments in France