Muharraq Airfield is a military base located adjacent to

Bahrain International Airport Bahrain International Airport (, romanized: ''Maṭār al-Baḥrayn al-dwalī'') is the international airport of Bahrain. Located on Muharraq Island, adjacent to the capital Manama and the city of Muharraq, it serves as the hub for the nation ...

. It is run by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

(USN) and usually ships supplies in and out of the airport with many of them from other countries as well. The USN, the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

(USMC), the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

, and others run the security at the airfield. Often referred to as the nearby city of

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

, Muharraq Airfield was the last stop for most US troops being sent to fight in the

War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in t ...

, including with the multinational

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

. It was previously established by 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 ...

as RAF Bahrain (later changed to RAF Muharraq) in April 1943 and remained in use until 1971 when

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

declared independence.

History

The Royal Air Force's history with Bahrain began in 1924, with flights originating from Shaibah Air Base in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Bahrain's strategic importance to the British led to the signing of a civil air agreement with the

King of Bahrain The king of the Kingdom of Bahrain ( ) is the monarch and head of state of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The House of Khalifa has been the ruling family since 1783. Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of hakim, and, from 1971 ...

in 1934. The Royal Air Force established a base there in the area as RAF Bahrain on 22 May 1943, as part of

RAF Iraq Command Iraq Command was the Royal Air Force (RAF) commanded British Armed Forces, inter-service Command (military formation), command in charge of United Kingdom, British forces in Iraq in the 1920s and early 1930s, during the period of the British Man ...

. It was renamed RAF Muharraq in 1963. From 15 September 1967 to 8 August 1969 Air Forces Gulf Communication Squadron RAF flew from the base. The base was also used by Search and Rescue Flight RAF Muharraq, based there from the mid-sixties to 1971. The following squadrons were here at some point: * A detachment from No. 212 Squadron RAF from 1942 with the

Consolidated Catalina The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA ...

IB * A detachment from

No. 413 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, (also represented as Nº, No̱, No., or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, the ...

from 1942 with the Catalina I & IV * No. 8 Squadron RAF between 30 June and 14 October 1961 with

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...

FGA.9 & FR.10 *

No. 30 Squadron RAF No. 30 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft and is based at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. The squadron was first formed as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, serving through the rest of the ...

between 1 September 1964 and 7 September 1967 with the

Blackburn Beverly The Blackburn B-101 Beverley is a heavy transport aircraft produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was notably the only land-based transport aeroplane built by Blackburn, a company that otherwise specialised in pr ...

C.1 * Detachment from No. 73 Squadron RAF from January 1954 with the Vampire FB.9 *

No. 84 Squadron RAF No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is at present a Search and Rescue Squadron based at RAF Akrotiri. The squadron transitioned from the previously operated Bell Griffin HAR.2 to operate the Puma HC.2 in 2023, until the Puma's retirement i ...

between 30 December 1970 and 1 October 1971 with the

Hawker Siddeley Andover The Hawker Siddeley HS 780 Andover is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft produced by Hawker Siddeley for the Royal Air Force (RAF), developed from the Avro-designed HS 748 airliner. The Andover was named after the Avro Ando ...

C.1 *

No. 105 Squadron RAF No. 105 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force, active for three periods between 1917 and 1969. It was originally established during the World War I, First World War as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and disbanded after the ...

between 6 August 1967 and 1 February 1968 with Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy C.1 * No. 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF between 1 October 1958 and 15 November 1967 with the

Percival Pembroke The Percival Pembroke is a British high-wing twin-engined light transport aircraft built by the Percival Aircraft Company, later Hunting Percival. Development The Pembroke was a development of the Percival Prince civil transport. It had a ...

C.1,

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was a British STOL transport aircraft built by Scottish Aviation Limited at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, during the 1950s. It was designed for both civil and military operators. It was conceived as a twin-en ...

CC.1 & CC.2 *

No. 208 Squadron RAF No 208 (Reserve) Squadron was a reserve unit of the Royal Air Force, most recently based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. It operated the BAe Hawk aircraft, as a part of No. 4 Flying Training School. Due to obsolescence of its Hawk T.1 aircraf ...

between 30 June and 15 November 1961 with the Hunter FGA.9 * Detachment from

No. 294 Squadron RAF No. 294 Squadron was a Royal Air Force air search and rescue (ASR) squadron active under RAF Middle East Command. During World War II the unit operated rescue missions for Allied aircraft and aircrew over the eastern Mediterranean and later the ...

between 1945 and 1946 ;Units * No. 35 Air Despatch & Reception Unit (1943-44) * No. 1417 Communications Flight RAF (1953-58) * Gulf Communications Flight (1967-70) * HQ RAF Persian Gulf (1959-67) became HQ Air Forces Gulf (1967-71) * No. 158 Repair & Salvage Unit (1945) * Search & Rescue Flight, Muharraq (1969-71) * No. 43 Staging Post (1943-46) * Bahrain Station Flight became Muharraq Station Flight The base was formally closed on 15 December 1971. The base was used by a detachment of

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a retired mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The VC10 is often compared to the larger Soviet Ily ...

tankers from No. 101 Squadron RAF during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

training with

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...

GR1's. From May 1997 a detachment of VC10s returned supporting

Operation Jural Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

and later

Operation Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider ...

over Iraq.

Current use

It became part of No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Commanded by a Squadron Leader (RAF) until 2015, the current ranking Officer is a Warrant Officer First Class (Supply Chain) RN. The base is also used by Mine countermeasures helicopters patrolling the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

such as

HM-15 Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 (HM-15) is a United States Navy helicopter squadron established in 1987 and based at Naval Station Norfolk. Nicknamed the "Blackhawks" and flying the CH-53E Super Stallion, MH-53E Sea Dragon, it is s ...

's Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon's.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations of Bahrain {{Bahrain-geo-stub

History

Current use

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography