Transform Your Flight Sim Experience
with In-Depth Tracking & Analysis
Track every flight, analyse your performance,
and master your flying skills with My FS Flights
Get 10 flights free every month!
Tracked and analysed flights over miles
RAF Lakenheath is a major United States Air Force base in Suffolk, close to the village of Lakenheath and bordering the town of Brandon, and is home to the 48th Fighter Wing flying the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II. It is not open to civilian traffic, but its long, ILS-equipped runway and busy military circuit make it a distinctive feature of the low-level airspace over East Anglia for any simulator pilot exploring the area.
RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station that, despite its name, is operated entirely by the United States Air Force under United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. It sits near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, with the airfield perimeter bordering the town of Brandon. The host unit is the 48th Fighter Wing, known as the Liberty Wing, which operates the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II, making it a lively subject for simulator pilots interested in modern fast-jet operations rather than civil traffic.
The airfield lies in Suffolk, in the east of England, 4.7 miles north-east of RAF Mildenhall and 8.3 miles west of Thetford. Its boundary borders the town of Brandon, and the nearby village of Lakenheath gives the station its name. As an active military installation it sits within controlled airspace associated with its own approach and tower services, and its proximity to RAF Mildenhall means the two stations' airspace and traffic patterns are closely linked.
Lakenheath has a single physical runway, 06/24, a hard-surfaced, lit runway of about 8,946 feet in one direction and 8,945 feet in the other, equipped with ILS. Its considerable length reflects the station's role as a front-line fast-jet base capable of handling heavy fighter and support aircraft movements.
Published frequencies for the field include APP on 136.5 MHz and 142.82 MHz, an ATIS on 35.672 MHz, TWR on 122.1 MHz and 338.92 MHz, GND on 375.45 MHz, RDR (radar) on 128.9 MHz, and additional command and metro/post frequencies including CAC on 27.777 MHz, PMSV (metro) on 28.442 MHz, POST on 37.98 MHz and PTD on 24.447 MHz. The runway is equipped with an instrument landing system.
The site was first used as a Royal Flying Corps bombing and ground-attack range during the First World War, supporting aircraft flying from RFC Feltwell and RFC Thetford. In 1940 the Air Ministry chose Lakenheath as an alternative and decoy airfield for the nearby RAF Mildenhall, and surfaced runways were laid down in 1941, with the main runway at 3,000 feet and two subsidiary runways of 2,000 feet. From late 1941 the station operated as a Mildenhall satellite, hosting Short Stirling bombers of No. 149 Squadron, which converted from Wellingtons and moved fully into Lakenheath on 6 April 1942, remaining until mid-1944. Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton of that squadron was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the night of 28-29 November 1942 during a raid on Turin. No. 199 Squadron arrived with a second Stirling force in June 1943, conducting mine-laying operations before both bomber squadrons departed in 1944 as Lakenheath was upgraded for very heavy bombers, closing it to aircraft until April 1947. From 1948 the airfield entered its long Cold War role under Strategic Air Command, hosting B-29 Superfortress and later B-47 bomber units, and briefly a CIA U-2 detachment in 1956. Following the withdrawal of nuclear-capable US forces from France in 1959, the 48th Fighter Wing, then flying F-100 Super Sabres, relocated to Lakenheath, beginning its long association with the station.
RAF Lakenheath remains an active United States Air Force installation and is not open to the public. It is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, the Liberty Wing, comprising the 492nd, 493rd, 494th and 495th Fighter Squadrons along with the 372nd Training Squadron and Field Training Detachment 16, operating the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II.
