During the Cold War period, the airfield developed its current form, imposing on the landscape in a much more spectacular way. Its extent was no longer bounded by existing field boundaries, but by the shape required for the runway extension. This caused the southwest and northwest corners of the base to jut out from the earlier rectangular plan. Areas of hard standing with associated Operational Readiness Platforms (ORPs) were also provided. Technical buildings were also added to in this period. The Unit Storage buildings to the far north of the site were constructed for storage and maintenance of nuclear bombs. Upon the introduction of the Blue Steel stand-off missile, new buildings were constructed just to the north-east of the hangars, to develop, maintain and fuel the missiles. A new Control Tower was constructed close to these buildings to provide a view of the newly expanded runway.