Nonstop flight route between Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,139 miles (or 9,880 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and RAF Mildenhall, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and RAF Mildenhall. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa.
• The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan-ni AB, South Korea on 1 November 1954, flying three squadrons of North American F-86 Sabres.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• The surrender of Japanese forces in the Ryukyu Islands came on 7 September.
• The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized Lockheed C/MC-130 Hercules aircraft to the wing.

Facts about RAF Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The squadron provides all operational management, aircraft maintenance, administration, and intelligence support to produce politically sensitive real-time intelligence data vital to national foreign policy.
• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• Despite its status as an RAF station, it primarily supports United States Air Force operations and is currently the home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• RAF Mildenhall opened on 16 October 1934.
• The squadron was redesignated as the 727 AMS on 15 March 2001.
• The 352 SOG is the Air Force component for Special Operations Command Europe, a sub-unified command of the US European Command.
• RAF Mildenhall hosts units from four different major USAF commands – Air Combat Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Mobility Command and United States Air Forces in Europe.
• The 727th Air Mobility Squadron is a unit of the 721st Air Mobility Operations Group, based at Ramstein AB, Germany.
• The tactical component of the 100 ARW is the 351st Air Refueling Squadron, flying the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker.