USAF 48th Tactical Fighter Wing TFW Patch F-111F WPCH 1989 (4 Inch)– Variant M1

WPCH Patch 48th TFW F-111F Aardvark Warsaw Pact Central Heating USAF RAF Lakenheath USAFE WPCH 1989 (4 Inch) Variant C7

WPCH Patch 48th TFW F-111F Aardvark Tactical Fighter Wing USAF RAF Lakenheath C7

Variant is smaller with plastic coated back, lighter blue sky with looser ribbed weave and slightly lighter green map, edging more white return threading on rear

Validation – Tangible authentic and original

Manufacturer – UK made P&M Huntingdon outsourced Taiwan

Manufacture – Embroidered through white twill and white double warp gauze stiffener, synthetic thread, cut edge and plastic coated back

Visibility – colour

Condition – very good has not been sewn to uniform

Size – 111mm by 92mm

Approximate imperial size – four and three eighth inches by three and five eighth inches

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48th Tactical Fighter Wing F-111F Aardvark

This original 48th TFW Warsaw Pact Central Heating patch is from the famous F-111F Aardvark era of the Liberty Wing. Operating from RAF Lakenheath during the height of the Cold War the Wing flew advanced F-111F Aardvark fighter bomber from 1977. 48th Tactical Fighter Wing became one of the most combat-capable tactical strike wings in USAF in Europe and NATO.

In 1977 the 48th TFW exchanged its F-4D Phantom II aircraft for the F-111F Aardvark transferred from the 347th TFW at Mountain Home Air Force Base. The successful transition earned the Wing its third Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. The Wing’s flying Squadrons remained the 492nd, 493rd and 494th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. Equipped with the long-range strike capability of the F-111F, the Wing immediately expanded operational deployments and exercises throughout Europe and the Middle East, including Italy, Iran, Greece and Pakistan.

The Wing’s operational strength increased further when the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated on 1 April 1977.  Acting as a replacement training unit, the 495th TFS helped maintain combat readiness across the Liberty Wing. By 1979 the 48th TFW had flown the highest number of flying hours ever recorded by an F-111 unit in a fiscal year. The Wing passed  its USAFE Operational Readiness Inspection and NATO Tactical Evaluation in 1980 and received its fourth Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.

During the 1980s the F-111F became internationally recognised through its precision strike capability and frontline NATO role. The 48th TFW deployed temporarily to RAF Sculthorpe in 1983 while RAF Lakenheath’s runway was resurfaced.

Operation El Dorado Canyon

In 1986 the Wing participated in the long-range strike mission against Libyan targets in Tripoli during Operation El Dorado Canyon. The attack was undertaken alongside the United States Navy Sixth Fleet. Although one aircraft and crew were lost, the Wing received the US Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation for the operation.

Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm

The Wing again entered combat during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Deploying as 48th TFW (Provisional) to Taif Air Base, Saudi Arabia, the 492nd, 493rd and 494th Tactical Fighter Squadrons flew 2,500 combat sorties. They achieved more than 2,200 target hits using the F-111F Aardvark and and dropped 7.3 million pounds of precision-guided munitions. 48th TFW (P) executed the first combat drop of the GBU-28 “bunker buster” bomb on 27 February 1991 and is credited with destroying hundreds of Iraqi tanks. The Wing returned to RAF Lakenheath in May 1991 and soon began restructuring under the USAF Objective Wing Organization program.

On 1 October 1991 the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated the 48th Fighter Wing, while the Tactical Fighter Squadrons became Fighter Squadrons. The 495th FS was inactivated in December 1991 followed by the 493rd FS in December 1992, marking the end of the famous F-111F era at RAF Lakenheath.

This original USAF WPCH Patch 48th TFW F-111F Aardvark is highly collectible among RAF Lakenheath, USAFE Operation Desert Storm and Cold War aviation memorabilia collectors, preserving the heritage of one of the United States Air Force’s most important combat fighter wings.

Warsaw Pact Central Heating F-111F patch

The Warsaw Pact Central Heating F-111F patch is a famous piece of Cold War “morale” or “Friday” military aviation heritage. It was worn by 48th Tactical Fighter Wing flight crews based at RAF Lakenheath. The Wing re-equipped with F-111F Aardvark supersonic swing-wing aircraft in 1977. The aircraft was designed for low-level, all-weather, precision deep-strike nuclear and conventional bombing missions. The Wing operated under NATO and was tasked with punching through Soviet air defences and destroy high-value strategic targets inside Eastern Europe. Crews created the tongue-in-cheek patch using the term “Central Heating” as a grim, satirical euphemism for the massive thermal heat and destruction generated by dropping nuclear or heavy conventional payloads onto Warsaw Pact countries.

Different variations have been made but the elements of the patch are: –

• F-111 Aardvark head on Silhouette with a trail looping up from the UK dropping down and again looping up after bomb drop representing the aircraft exiting a low level strike.
• Nuclear stylized explosion cloud map over eastern Europe.
• The Text “Warsaw Pact Central Heating” or “Warsaw Pact Heating Corp.” on the bottom curved tab.

The political landscape in the UK and Western Europe was highly charged with anti-nuclear protests during the 1980s. The USAF decided it was highly provocative and too politically sensitive for public display. Aircrews were forbidden from wearing it outside secure base areas, flight lines, or squadron bars. Outside the base It was worn secretly under flight suit collars or traded strictly as a collector’s token among NATO personnel.

Aircrews stopped using the patch following the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the 48 TFW’s transition to the F-15E Strike Eagle in 1992. Since then, the basic design has been used by other units with other attack aircraft.

 

 

This WPCH patch 48th TFW F-111F Aardvark dates from 1989.