Castlemartin Training Area
| Castlemartin Training Area | |
|---|---|
| Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire | |
|
Western Walls | |
  Castlemartin Training Area Location within Pembrokeshire | |
| Coordinates | 51°37′51″N 4°58′47″W / 51.630895°N 4.979633°W |
| Type | Training Area |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator |
 British Army |
| Controlled by | Defence Infrastructure Organisation[1] |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1939 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1939-Present |
The Castlemartin Training Area is located at Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire and covers 2,390 hectares (5,900 acres)[2] of land in South Western Wales. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is located within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
The ranges are active for 44 weeks of the year[3] and when in use can include a coastal exclusion zone of some 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the coast, or as little as 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) depending on weapons systems/munitions being used.[3][4]
History
The Castlemartin Training Area was established in 1939.[5] In 1962 there was a shortage of suitable tank training areas in Northern part of Germany for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), an agreement was made whereby armoured training for German recruits was undertaken in the UK so the Bergen-Hohne Training Area could be freed for use by the British Army. This carried on until the 1990s when additional ranges in Eastern Germany became available on reunification.
The Ranges today
In 1999 the Defence Training Estate was formed and units from all over the UK and NATO have trained on the ranges.[1]
Within the Pembrokeshire Estate there are:
- Castlemartin ranges - one of the UK's armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) ranges with direct live firing gunnery exercises and armoured vehicle manoueuvres,[1]
- Royal Artillery Range Manorbier, Penally Training Camp and Templeton Airfield - air defence systems,[1]
- Pembrey Sands Air Weapons Range - air to ground training, every RAF fast jet pilot is trained here.[1]
-
Centurion Mk12 tank at the entrance to Merrion Camp (Castlemartin ranges).
-
Leopard 1 similar to those used during the 1970s and 1980s at Castlemartin by the German Army
-
Leopard 2 as used by the German Army at Castlemartin Ranges
-
The Royal Armoured Corps used the Chieftain tank at Castlemartin during the 1970s and early 1980s.
-
Challenger 2 Main Battle tank on exercise in the UK
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 DTE Pembrokeshire (Website accessed: 02/09/10)
- ↑ DTE Pembrokeshire ranges (Website accessed: 02/09/10)
- 1 2 Milford Haven Port Authority (Website accessed: 02/09/10)
- ↑ Castlemartin Ranges - Home
- ↑ "Castlemartin Pembrokeshire" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
External links
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