What military facility was built on Diego Garcia?

A major military facility providing air and naval support was built on the Diego Garcia atoll in 1971.123

Developed through an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom during the Cold War, the base was established to serve as a strategic hub for defense and communications in the central Indian Ocean. To facilitate the construction and operation of these facilities, the local population—the Ilois, or Chagossians—was removed from the archipelago between 1967 and 1973. The base has since been utilized for various major military operations, including the Persian Gulf War, the conflict in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.4132