“I believe the Air Force should press for a large-scale intelligence project to obtain information necessary to destroy the enemy’s long-range atomic forces”.
General Curtis Le May, Strategic Air Command, USAF, 1952
During the Cold War USAF aircraft monitored Soviet radio transmissions and recorded transmission frequencies by flying aircraft at high altitude over Soviet-controlled countries and around coastlines.
In 1965 the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (55th SRW) began to use RAF Upper Heyford when their former base at RAF Brize Norton returned to RAF control. From June 1966 operations were supported by Detachment 1 of the 98th Strategic Wing.
Missions were flown by RB-47H jets until 1967 before being replaced by specially modified ‘Big Safari’ Boeings.
“Our mission was to fly near the Russian coast from the Bering Sea across the Artic to the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea. Missions varied from nine to fifteen hours. We would continue west and south and recover to Upper Heyford. After a short rest period, three or four days, we took off for the return flight and mission tasking along the way”.
Major John Achor, 55th SRW
“On all these missions, a KC-135A tanker launched with us and trailed us to an air refuelling point. The tanker flew in trail five-hundred feet above our altitude. On our signal the tanker would take the lead, descend to refuelling altitude and slow to air refuelling speed”.
Major John Achor, 55th SRW
“I was riding along as a third pilot when a Russian fighter closed on us from our six o’clock position. The Instructor Pilot pulled the throttles back and raised a few degrees of speed brakes. Rather than slide in front of us, he broke away towards the sea”.
Major John Achor, 55th SRW
55th SRW operations were moved temporarily to RAF Lakenheath in April 1970 as the 20th TFW prepared to re-equip with the F-111E at Upper Heyford. After runway work at RAF Mildenhall was complete 55th SRW operations moved again.
Many 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing missions remain classified…