LFA 7 covers the whole of Wales, apart from a small area in the northeast of Powys which is within LFA 9. RAF Valley, RAF St Athan, the Air Weapons Range at Pembrey Sands, Army barracks at Brawdy, Royal Artillery range at Manorbier and Field Training Centres at Castlemartin and Sennybridge are all in the area. The range at Manorbier sees considerable amount of usage for activities where aircraft are working in support of the ground forces. In addition LFA 7 includes the Tactical Training Area 7T.
The Welsh landscape and little controlled airspace above 2,000ft (offering flexibility for military aircraft to enter or leave the lower airspace), combine to make LFA 7 a key training area for military low flying training. RAF advanced fast-jet pilot training is carried out at RAF Valley using Hawk aircraft, the range limitations of which generally mean that most of the associated flying acitivity needs to be carried out locally, some of it using the Pembrey Range. Much of the helicoper activity is associated with Castlemartin and Sennybridge, RAF Search and Rescue training at RAF Valley, Support helicopter and AAC aircrew pre-deployment training for overseas operations and the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury in the adjacent LFA 9.
Usable area: 18,909 km2 (7,301 sq mls). This represents 9.6% of the total usable area of the UK Low Flying System.
There are three areas in the low flying system known as Tactical Training Areas. It is within these areas that Operational Low Flying is permitted. This is when fixed wing aircraft are authorised to fly as low as 100ft minimum separation distance, although larger aircraft such as C-130 Hercules are only permitted to fly as low as 150ft.
Exercise and events taking place in LFA 7
For a complete listing of Exercises and Events across the United Kingdom click the link on the right.