The RAF training programme at RAF Valley which also utilises the civil airport at Ronaldsway in the Isle of Man appears to have encountered problems. Plans to expand the programme, which trains both RAF aircrew and air crew from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, to the airfield at Llanbedr have been formally paused.
The plan had been opposed by local people and Cymdeithas y Cymod (a Welsh peace group) and the Peace Pledge Union. They cited actions such as the Saudi bombing of civilians in Yemen.
The airfield at Llanbedr was originally operated by the RAF until the 1950s and then it was used as part of the missile testing programme at nearby Aberporth by the RAE and DERA. Eventually after privatisation of Aberporth it was used by Qinetiq.
The complex is currently used for testing military drones, a practice also opposed by Welsh peace campaigners.
Image: RAF Valley which trains Saudi murderers – Inset; Children cower during a bombing raid in Yemen
Bernard Moffatt
pp Celtic League Military Monitoring (31st August 2020)
