Copehill Down

{{Use British English|date=July 2019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox military installation

| name = Copehill Down

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| partof = Salisbury Plain Training Area

| location =

| nearest_town = Warminster, Wiltshire

| country = England

| image = File:Major's Battle Exercise. MOD 45157683.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Armoured vehicles during a training exercise at Copehill Down

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| type = Urban warfare training facility

| coordinates = {{coord | 51.2069| -1.9770| region:GB_type:city(500) | display=inline,title}}

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| pushpin_map = Wiltshire

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| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Wiltshire

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| pushpin_label = Copehill Down

| pushpin_label_position = top

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| ownership = Ministry of Defence

| operator = Defence Infrastructure Organisation

| controlledby = Defence Training Estate

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| built = {{Start date|1987}}

| used = 1987 – present

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| condition = Operational

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Copehill Down is a Ministry of Defence training facility near Chitterne on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is a 'FIBUA' (Fighting In Built Up Areas) urban warfare and close quarters battle training centre, where exercises and tests are conducted.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/wiltshire_live_search_gallery.shtml?10 "Wiltshire – In Pictures"] BBC News, October 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2010 The site lies in open ground in the northeast of Chitterne parish, between Chitterne and Tilshead, at Ordnance Survey {{gbmapping|SU017453}}.File:Soldier Jumping Out of Window MOD 45154897.jpg

History

The facility was built to resemble a German village in Bavaria, to provide troops with a simulated backdrop when training for operations in European theatres including the Cold War, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, and was completed in 1987.{{cite news|url=https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/11839116.500k-investment-for-salisbury-plain-training-village/|title=£500k investment for Salisbury Plain training village|date=6 March 2015|newspaper=Salisbury Journal|access-date=6 May 2024}}

The facility includes a shanty town stacked and laid out in rows of tightly packed streets, to provide an additional training area that more closely resembles the Army's operational theatres in Afghanistan and Iraq. There is also some rolling stock.{{cite web|url=https://locations.landmarcsolutions.com/location/salisbury-plain-copehill-down/|title=Copehill Down|publisher=Landmarc|access-date=6 May 2024}}

The Copehill Down training area is open for public access. Non-combat access to the FIBUA village is restricted, but has been used for airsoft wargaming and by historical reenactment societies, which take part in private reenactments of battles.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/02/the-mock-village-of-copehill-down.html|title=The Mock Village of Copehill Down|last=Kaushik|website=Amusing Planet|access-date=2019-07-30}}

References

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