View source for Organization:Istres-Le Tubé Air Base

{{Short description|French Air Force base near Istres, Bouches-du-Rhone, France}}
{{Infobox airport
| name         = Istres-Le Tubé Air Base
| ensign       = [[File:Roundel of France.svg|50px]]
| nativename   = Base aérienne 125 Istres (BA 125)<br />{{smaller|Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-17}}
| image        = Istres_BA125_Landsat.png
| image-width  = 250
| caption      = [[Engineering:Landsat 5|Landsat 5]] satellite image - false color infrared
| image2       = QIE AIRPORT ISTRES LFMI (31462813993).jpg
| image2-width = 250
| caption2     = Aerial photo of Istres Air Base
| IATA         = QIE
| ICAO         = LFMI
| type         = Military
| owner        = Government of France
| operator     = Armée de l'air et de l'espace
| location     = Istres, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
| elevation-f  = 162
| elevation-m  = 49
| coordinates  = {{Coord|43|31|28|N|4|56|30|E|region:FR_type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| website      =
| pushpin_map            = Europe#France#France Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
| pushpin_mapsize        = 250
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location of Istres-Le Tubé Air Base
| pushpin_label          = '''LFMI'''
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_relief         = y
| built        =
| metric-rwy   = y
| r1-number    = 15/33
| r1-length-m  = 5,000
| r1-surface   = Asphalt
| footnotes    = Source: DAFIF<ref name="WAD">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110806071321/http://www.worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?airport=LFMI Airport information for LFMI]}} from DAFIF (effective October 2006)</ref><ref name="GCM">{{GCM|QIE|source=DAFIF}}</ref>
}}

'''Istres-Le Tubé Air Base''' ({{lang-fr|Base Aérienne 125}} or '''BA&nbsp;125''') is a large multi-role tasked French Air and Space Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France. The airport facilities are also known as '''Istres - Le Tubé''' (ICAO airport code: LFMI).

==Operational units and uses==

===French Air and Space Force===

The user of the base is the French Air and Space Force with several operational units on the base, including:
* Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol et de Transport 1/31 Bretagne<ref name="CCD">{{cite web|url=https://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/presentation/chiffres-cles/chiffres-cles-de-l-armee-de-l-air|title=Chiffres clés de l'Armée de l'air - L'Armée de l'air en chiffres : 2019-2020 (FR)|publisher=French Air and Space Force|access-date=October 24, 2020}}</ref>
* Escadron de Ravitaillement en Vol 4/31 Sologne<ref name="CCD"/>
* DAMS 11.004 (''Dépôt atelier de munitions spéciales'') or Special ammunition storage, responsible for the hardened storage of the nuclear mid-range Air-Sol Moyenne Portée ASMP-A missiles to be used by fighter squadron 2/4 in its deterrent role.<ref name="senat">{{cite web
 | date = 24 November 2005
 | url = http://www.senat.fr/rap/a05-102-6/a05-102-616.html
 | title = Appendix 2: List of Airbases and Their Principal Activities
 | work = 2006 Finance Bill: Defense - Air Forces
 | publisher = French Senate
 | access-date = 2006-12-09
|language=fr}}</ref>
* Air defence squadron 01.950 responsible for the base air defense.
* 25th Air Engineer Regiment<ref name="CCD"/>
* Guard detachment (Fusiliers Commandos de l'Air) responsible for the base security and ground defences.

===Other uses===
The base also hosts a helicopter squadron and a large repair and training facility. In addition, it also includes EPNER (École du Personnel Navigant d’Essais et de Réception); test facilities for DGA Essais en vol, Dassault Aviation, SNECMA, Thales and some aeronautical units of the French Navy. More than 5,000 personnel work on the base.

Secondary users occasionally include the {{wipe|United States Air Force}} (USAF), during Allied operations engaging United States and France. During Operation Allied Force, USAF [[Engineering:Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker|Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker]]s and [[Engineering:Lockheed U-2|Lockheed U-2]]s operated out of the base. Istres was the home of U-2 detachment OL-FR (Operating Location-FRance).<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-769655.html, Washington Post, January 6, 1996</ref> Istres was also designated by [[Organization:NASA|NASA]] as a contingency landing site for the [[Engineering:Space Shuttle|Space Shuttle]] in the case of a [[Engineering:Space Shuttle abort modes#Intact abort modes|Transoceanic Abort Landing]] (TAL).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17044|title=France to assist NASA with the future launches of the Space Shuttle|access-date=2009-09-27}}</ref> The base's runway is {{convert|3750|m|ft}} long and {{convert|60|m|ft}} wide. An additional overrun area {{convert|1200|m|ft}} long was built for Airbus Industries in 1992. It has the same characteristics as the runway, making it the longest runway in Western Europe and thus suited to Shuttle landings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ba125.air.defense.gouv.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=211 |title=Caractéristiques |access-date=2012-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723222555/http://www.ba125.air.defense.gouv.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=211 |archive-date=2012-07-23 }}</ref>

==World War II==
Built prior to [[Social:World War II|World War II]], Istres Air Base was first used by the French Air Force during the early part of the war, and after the 1940 Battle of France and the June Armistice with [[Place:Nazi Germany|Nazi Germany]], became part of the limited ({{lang-fr|Armée de l'Air de Vichy}}) air force of the [[Religion:Vichy France|Vichy Government]]. It was attacked on several missions by Allied bombers based in England while under German control after November 1942. It was seized by Allied forces during Operation Dragoon, the Invasion of Southern France in August 1944 and was repaired and placed into operational use by the {{wipe|United States Army Air Forces}} XII Engineer Command, being turned over to {{wipe|Twelfth Air Force}} on 27 August 1944.

The airfield was designated by the Americans as '''Istres/Le Tubé Airfield''' or '''Advanced Landing Ground Y-17'''. It was also given the AAF designation of '''USAAF Station 196'''. Twelfth Air Force initially assigned the 324th Fighter Group to the airfield on 2 September, with [[Engineering:Republic P-47 Thunderbolt|Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]]s. However the 324th only remained a few days before moving forward to Amberieu on 6 September.

The main USAAF use of Istres was by the 64th Troop Carrier Group, which operated [[Engineering:Douglas C-47 Skytrain|Douglas C-47 Skytrain]] transports from the airfield from September to November 1944. When the combat units moved north into eastern France, Istres was used by {{wipe|Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)}} as a transshipment point for supplies and Allied personnel, being administratively controlled by the 1411th Army Air Force Base Unit.

With the end of the war, the Americans used Istres as a staging point between Occupied Germany and Morocco for air transport of personnel back to the United States. It was returned to full French control in October 1945.<ref>{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. {{ISBN|0-89201-092-4}}.
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
* Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
</ref>

Sometime after World War II, until May 1958, Base Aérienne 125 was host to the {{wipe|Royal Air Force}} Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and [[Organization:Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom. In May 1958, the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, moved to Base Aérienne 115 Orange-Caritat where it continued into the early 1960s.

==Incidents==

On 31 March 1992, Trans-Air Service Flight 671, a [[Engineering:Boeing 707|Boeing 707]], made an emergency landing at Istres after engines 3 and 4 had separated from the wing in [[Physics:Turbulence|turbulence]] at {{convert|35,000|ft}}. The aircraft performed a [[Engineering:Flap (aeronautics)|flapless]], downwind landing with a touch-down speed of nearly {{convert|200|knots}} and the right wing on fire from the pouring fuel. The gear failed and the aircraft slid off the far end of the runway, but the crew of five survived and the cargo was saved. The incident brought to light severe deficiencies in Kabo Air's operations — the aircraft had passed mandatory maintenance and was overloaded.
<ref name="Transair671-transcript">{{cite web
 | url = http://www.tailstrike.com/310392.htm
 | title = "31 March 1992 - Transair 671" (transcript)
 | work = Cockpit Voice Recorder Database
 | publisher = tailstrike.com (site not responding on 5 March 2008)
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041015235634/http://www.tailstrike.com/310392.htm
 | archive-date = 2004-10-15
}}</ref><ref name="ASN">{{cite web
 | url = http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19920331-0&lang=en
 | title = Aircraft Accident description of the 31 MAR 1992 accident of a Boeing 707-321C 5N-MAS at Istres
 | work = aviation-safety.net
 | publisher = Aviation Safety Network
 | access-date = 2008-03-05
}}</ref><ref name="BEA">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/1992/5n-s920331/htm/5n-s920331.html
 |title       = RAPPORT relatif à l'accident survenu le 31 mars 1992 au Boeing 707 immatriculé 5N-MAS (Nigéria) exploité par la Compagnie Trans-Air Limited
 |work        = bea-fr.org
 |publisher   = Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA)
 |access-date  = 2008-03-05
 |language    = fr
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080905192844/http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/1992/5n-s920331/htm/5n-s920331.html
 |archive-date = 2008-09-05
}}</ref>

<gallery>
Image:Mirage2000Nimousin.jpg|Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
Image:C135FRGRV093.jpg|[[Engineering:Boeing C-135 Stratolifter|C135FR]] "GRV 093 Bretagne"
Image:Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000N (code 375) of the French Air Force arrives Fairford 7Jul2016 arp.jpg|Mirage 2000N based at Istres arrives at the 2016 RIAT, England
</gallery>

==See also==
* Advanced Landing Ground

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/air/decouverte/lorganisation/bases_aeriennes/metropole/region_aerienne_sud/ba_125_istres Official BA125 site] (French)
* [http://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/air/decouverte/lorganisation/les_unites_aeriennes/cfas/escadron_de_chasse_limousin Strike squadron 3/4 Limousin site] (French)
* [http://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/air/decouverte/lorganisation/les_unites_aeriennes/cfas/escadron_de_ravitaillement_en_vol_bretagne Tanker squadron 00.093 Bretagne site] (French)

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