The Ministry of Defence has highlighted the role of RAF Gibraltar in sustaining the UK’s posture in the western Mediterranean, setting out how the airfield supports military mobility, regional reassurance, and wider Alliance activity.
RAF Gibraltar is described as a key overseas outpost for the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command, providing air operations, logistics, and engineering support in what Walker called a “geo political European spotlight.” He outlined three core responsibilities: managing the Ministry of Defence airfield, overseeing RAF functions on the station, and ensuring personnel and families have access to welfare and community activities.
Walker said his main task is to keep the airfield ready for military and commercial use while addressing regulatory requirements. “Primarily, I manage the Ministry of Defence Gibraltar airfield, ensuring it is ready for military and commercial use and regulatory oversight findings from the Military Aviation Authority and Civil Aviation Authority are addressed,” he explained.
The airfield’s dual civil military role is presented as central to Gibraltar’s economy and to the UK’s ability to maintain a foothold in the region. According to Walker, RAF Gibraltar enables NATO, allied, and UK operations by serving as a staging point for airlift and maritime support. He noted that the Military Air Transport Fleet provides rapid movement for Royal Gibraltar Regiment personnel and supports Royal Navy vessels. He added that these routine sorties also help aircrew maintain readiness.
Community outreach features prominently in Walker’s account. He highlighted a charity run held on the airfield, stating that it attracted 400 participants and raised £5,000. He also cited a cardboard boat race that drew local families, linking such events to the station’s broader aim of building cohesion with the community.
Despite the relatively modest scale of military flight activity, Walker said that the unit remains prepared to meet shifts in operational demand. “We are prepared 24/7 to react to an increase in demand, ensuring the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command mission to be strong abroad is delivered,” he said.
The blog places RAF Gibraltar within the wider context of the 26,000 personnel assigned to the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command across more than 130 global sites. The command’s remit, as set out in the piece, spans cyber operations, intelligence, medical support, special forces, education, and Defence diplomacy.
Calling it RAF Gib, is a bit of a stretch, its an airport the RAF can use…
That said, we have two strategic facilities at either end of the Mediterranean and long may that be the case.
The UK has sovereign airbases bases straddling the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean.
Ascension
Mount Pleasant
Diego Garcia
Gibraltar
Akritoni
No other country in the world comes close to this level of sovereign strategic base capacity and this is what makes the UK one of the most powerful countries in the world.
As the USA found out in 1986 with operation Eldarado Canyon, bases in other peoples counties are close to useless when you want to do sovereign operations.
As carriers become increasingly expensive and vulnerable and aircraft and drones become longer ranged these bases will only grow in importance.
“There’ll always be an England,”
Brings a lump to the back of my throat.
Yep we have a base in qatar which is laregy useless as it requires qatari approval for each launch. Foreign bases are not useful unless that country is very very aligned with your objectives, e.g. american fighters launching from the UK.
A problem though is that part of the runway is located in the border zone handed over to Spanish control a couple of months ago. Spain and Spanish police now have complete control over all civilian and military flights in to and out of Gibraltar. They also now man the immigration desks so you can’t get on or off a plane at Gibraltar without Spanish permission (I’m not sure if that applies to military flights). Another example of Stammer’s famous “reset” with the EU, concession after concession by he UK with nothing concrete back in return.
Nope, the military flights can take off without spanish authority iirc, they just have to ‘go the long way around’ as they’re not allowed in spanish airspace.
A problem though is that part of the runway is located in the border zone handed over to Spanish control a couple of months ago. Spain and Spanish police now have complete control over all civilian and military flights in to and out of Gibraltar. They also now man the immigration desks so you can’t get on or off a plane at Gibraltar without Spanish permission (I’m not sure if that applies to military flights). Yet another example of Starmer’s famous “reset” with the EU, concession after concession by the UK with nothing concrete back in return. I believe that the latest item on the EU’s list is a £4bn payment by the UK government in order for UK companies to be allowed to submit bids in up to 35% EU defence contracts – no guarantee we will actually win any of course. [What’s the betting that the 35% becomes 50%, and the EU negotiators smile as they pocket the money and congratulate the UK negotiators on what a hard deal they drove, before moving on to the next demand, the exclusion of Rockall when calculating the UK’s EEZ.]
U fact checked you rant:
Part of the runway was handed to Spanish control months ago.
False The UK maintains full control over its military facilities, including the RAF base and runway.
Spain/Spanish police have complete control over all civilian/military flights.
False The UK retains operational autonomy over military flights. For civilian flights, there will be a dual control system.
Spanish police now man all immigration desks.
False There will be dual border control checks at the airport, conducted by both Gibraltarian and Spanish officials, in a model similar to French police at London’s St Pancras station.
Spanish permission is needed to get on or off a plane.
Partially True Spanish officials (acting as Schengen agents) can deny entry to the Schengen area if an individual doesn’t meet the rules (e.g., exceeding the 90/180-day limit), but they cannot prevent a British citizen from being returned to the UK or being dealt with by Gibraltar authorities.
The UK government must pay £4bn for UK companies to bid on EU defence contracts.
False There is no evidence in the search results of a £4bn payment for this purpose.
Defence matters are separate, and the UK has full autonomy over its military bases.
Why just make this stuff up?
Rockall exclusion is the next EU demand. False The Rockall issue is a separate, long-standing sovereignty dispute between the UK, Ireland, Denmark, and Iceland, and is not mentioned as part of the current EU-UK negotiations in the provided sources.
Thanks for fact checking,
The £4 billion he is referencing is nonsense, it was £6 billion to give the UK access to the EU defence fund and the UK has declined it. UK companies can and do still have access to bid for EU based defence contracts.