RAF Al Udeid

Royal Air Force station Al Udeid or more simply RAF Al Udeid is a Royal Air Force station located at Al Udeid Air Base which itself is located 17 mi south west of Doha in Qatar, serving as a station for British air operations in support of Operation Telic and Operation Herrick - the designation for British contributions towards operations in Iraq and Afghanistan respectively.

History
The Royal Air Force (RAF) detachment at Al Udeid consisted of nearly 400 personnel and 6 to 8 Panavia Tornado GR4 aircraft. Aircraft were equipped with a range of stores including Vicon Recce Pod, LITENING targeting pod, 1000 lb HE bombs, Paveway II and Paveway III, RAPTOR Recce Pod. Of the personnel detached to RAF Al Udeid only approximately 130 were direct aircraft engineers with the remaining 270 being in the support and operation management role.

Squadron personnel were on a two-month rotation at Al Udeid with the remainder of the force on a four-month rotation. The squadron personnel knew the day they left was the day they would arrive in the following year. Support personnel were on varying rotations but not as often generally as the squadron personnel.

The aircraft designated to Al Udeid were drawn from across the Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 Fleet and were chosen for their currency and up to date modification state. The aircraft were not from any particular squadron but shared amongst the RAF Marham and RAF Lossiemouth aircraft.

During the stay at Al Udeid the RAF operated from what was known as the Southern QRA buildings which can be easily seen on Google Earth. Aircraft were housed in canvas shelters to protect them and the personnel working on them from the heat of the sun.

RAF Al Udeid has also been used as a staging post for personnel en route to Iraq (Basrah) with personnel transferring from passenger aircraft such as the RAF operated Tristar (from / to UK) to the Tactical Transport of the RAF Lockheed C-130 Hercules (from /to Basrah). The Hercules transit was in the region of two hours and mostly in tactical black-out conditions.

Current use
The Al Udeid Tornado Aircraft detachment was closed in June 2009 with the aircraft being deployed elsewhere.