Royal Air Force Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham was, between 1939 and 1993, the name of a Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front-line air force base, operating Quick Reaction Alert (South), before closing as an Royal Air Force station in 1993. Since 1993 it has been operated by the British Army as Wattisham Flying Station.
A McDonnell Douglas F-4J(UK) Phantom of No. 74(Fighter) Squadron which was based at RAF Wattisham.
27 May 1944 Aerial photograph of RAF Wattisham the control tower and airfield code are in front of the four C-Type hangars on the right.
Aerial photograph of the USAAF 4th Strategic Air Depot at RAF Wattisham looking north, 3 April 1946
North American P-51B-5 Mustang 42-7040 from the 434th Fighter Squadron in June 1945. This P-51B was previously assigned to the 361st FG at RAF Bottisham and was a replacement for low-hour P-51s reassigned from the group.
Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) is state of readiness and modus operandi of air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces. The United States usually refers to Quick Reaction Alert as 'Airspace Control Alert'.
A QRA Typhoon from XI Sqn at RAF Coningsby escorts a Russian Tu-95 (ASCC designation "Bear") in August 2008
RRH Benbecula in June 2004
RRH Staxton Wold in May 2009. Staxton Wold is possibly the oldest operational radar station in the world
A QRA Tornado F3 of 111 Sqn at Leuchars intercepting a Russian Tupolev Tu-160 flying west of Stornoway in March 2010
