The United States Air Force and the UK’s Ministry of Defence announced on November 19, that two US Air Force squadrons, the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron (RS) and the 488th Intelligence Squadron (IS) that currently use aircraft deployed to RAF Mildenhall, Sufolk will relocate their RC-135 Rivet Joint operations to RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. First announced in 2015 as part of its European Infrastructure Consolidation Program, the move is expected to commence in 2023 and be complete by 2024. The US Air Force’s RC-135s are permanently assigned to Air Combat Command’s 55th Wing based at Ofutt Air Force Base, Nebraska which has historically used RAF Mildenhall as a forward operating location, deploying its aircraft as required. The 95th RS and 488th IS provide intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities
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