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Special Munitions Compound

United Kingdom / England / Swaffham /
 arsenal / weapon and ammunition storage  Add category

Operated by No. 93 (Expeditionary Armament) Squadron (93 EAS)

Formerly the Tactical Armament Squadron (TAS), its mission statement is "To deliver and develop specialist, expeditionary armament capability to support UK defence policy". It has approximately 130 staff and is a sub unit of No 42 (Expeditionary Support) Wing.

In order to minimize collateral civilian damage, the UK is using the most precise weapons available: the Brimstone Dual-Mode Seeker anti-armour missile and the Paveway IV bomb.The job of storing and preparing those weapons falls to the team from 93 Expeditionary Armament Squadron (93 EAS).

The Squadron's role is to deploy with RAF aircraft across the world to set up safe preparation and storage areas for weapons, providing safe parking for armed aircraft and the resupply of weapons. The team can then ensure that the flying squadrons have sufficient weapons ready to be loaded onto aircraft by their armourers.

While Brimstone is relatively easy to prepare, Paveway IV is more complex. At the weapon's core is a 500lb (227kg) bomb; the armourers' role is to add the guidance systems.The guidance equipment arrives in kit form. The parts are built around the bomb, allowing it to be directed both by laser targeting and an onboard GPS. This dual guidance makes each Paveway IV a fearsomely accurate weapon.The 93 EAS team can assemble a set of four Paveways in around an hour. Each day they build more as the UK's Tornado and Typhoon aircraft continue to hit Libyan regime ground forces.

The triple fence and watch tower security around this compound dates from the period when it was used for the storage of the UK's own air-drop nuclear bomb : the WE177 which were deployed from here until their final withdrawal from service in 1998.(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WE.177)

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Coordinates:   52°38'49"N   0°32'7"E
This article was last modified 13 years ago