RAF Molesworth

RAF Molesworth
Near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire in England
This B-17F, tail number 41-24577, was named Hell's Angels after the 1930 Howard Hughes movie about World War I fighter pilots. Assigned to the 358th Bombardment Squadron of the 303rd Bombardment Group.
RAF Molesworth Shown within Cambridgeshire
Coordinates	52°22′46″N 000°24′18″W / 52.37944°N 0.40500°W / 52.37944; -0.40500Coordinates: 52°22′46″N 000°24′18″W / 52.37944°N 0.40500°W / 52.37944; -0.40500
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force 1939-1942 United States Army Air Forces 1942-1945 United States Air Force 1951-present
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)
In use	1940-1946, 1951-1959, 1986-present
Garrison information
Garrison	423d Air Base Group
Airfield information
Elevation	77 metres (253 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Asphalt (USAF) 00/00  Asphalt (WWII) 00/00  Asphalt (WWII) 00/00  Asphalt (WWII)

Royal Air Force Molesworth or more simply RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force station located near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, England with a history dating back to 1917.

Its runway and flight line facilities were closed in 1973 and demolished. New facilities were constructed to support ground-launched cruise missile operations in the early 1980s. It was one of the two British bases to house cruise missiles and a focus for protests. It is now a non-flying facility under the control of the United States Air Force (USAF), and is one of two Royal Air Force (RAF) stations in Cambridgeshire currently used by the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). Molesworth, RAF Alconbury and RAF Upwood were considered the "Tri-Base Area" due to their close geographic proximity and interdependency until RAF Upwood closed in late 2012.

RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth are the last Second World War era Eighth Air Force airfields in the United Kingdom that are still actively in use and controlled by the United States Air Force. It was from Molesworth on 4 July 1942 that the first USAAF Eighth Air Force mission was flown over Nazi-occupied territory.

On 8 January 2015 it was announced that the US Air Force would be withdrawn from RAF Molesworth, along with RAF Mildenhall and RAF Alconbury. Another announcement, in early 2016, stated that the site was one of 12 that will be sold as part of the strategy for the MOD Estate, although no date for the sale was given.

Molesworth is home to three Major Command (MAJCOM) branch sites: the United States European Command (USEUCOM) Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center (JAC), United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) Intelligence and Knowledge Directorate-Molesworth (J2-M), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Intelligence Fusion Centre (IFC), and is garrisoned by the United States Air Force 423rd Air Base Group (423 ABG), located at RAF Alconbury.