RAF Cranfield was an RAF base situated in Bedfordshire, England.

It was built on 100 acres of farmland acquired by the Air Ministry in 1935 as Britain rearmed to face growing threats on the continent. It was formally opened on 1 June 1937 and initially became the base for 62 and 82 squadrons of No.1 (Bomber) Group, flying the already obsolescent Hawker Hind biplanes.

Both squadrons converted to Blenheim 1s in 1938. RAF Cranfield's grass airstrip was replaced with three hardened runways in the winter of 1939 and spring of 1940.

August 1941 saw the fast developing station become a night fighter training centre with the arrival of No. 51 Night fighter Operational Training Unit. At the end of the war in Europe, in June 1945, the airfield became the site for a new College of Aeronautics. This college helped develop the highly successful Harrier Jump Jet and has serviced the Hurricanes and Spitfires of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The sole remaining airworthy Avro Lancaster is also based at Cranfield.

What became the University was formed in 1946 as the College of Aeronautics. The Cranfield Institute of Technology was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1969, giving the institution its own degree-awarding powers.

Since then the former National College of Agricultural Engineering established at Silsoe near Luton, Bedfordshire, during the 1950s, was incorporated. An academic partnership with the Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) at Shrivenham was formed in 1984. RMCS, whose roots can be traced back to 1772, is now a part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and now forms the Defence College of Management and Technology, known as 'DCMT'. In 1993 the Royal Charter changed the institution's name to Cranfield University.

The airfield is now operated as Cranfield Airport  handling mainly business aircraft.