Airforces

88 // OCTOBER 2018 #367 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Operation Cabrit

our Army Air Corps (AAC) Wildcat

AH1s and their crews returned from

four months in Estonia at the end of

July. The mission – Operation Cabrit – was

the first operational deployment for the AAC’s

Wildcat, which succeeded the Lynx AH9A

as the service’s Battlefield Reconnaissance

Helicopter (BRH) and declared full operational

capability (FOC) in April last year.

The four helicopters were provided by

661 Squadron, 1 Regiment Army Air Corps,

which travelled from its base at Royal

Naval Air Station Yeovilton, Somerset, to

support NATO allies in the Baltic region.

Formerly based in Germany, 1 Regiment

Army Air Corps returned to the UK

in 2013 and set up its new home

at Yeovilton, where it shares the

Wildcat AH1 fleet with the Fleet

Air Arm’s 847 Naval Air Squadron

under the Joint Helicopter

Command. The first AAC unit

to equip with the Wildcat, 661

Squadron, on declaring FOC,

assumed readiness to deploy

anywhere in the world within five days.

Background to Cabrit

At the 2016 Warsaw Summit, NATO’s heads

of state decided the alliance would establish a

physical presence around the former Eastern

bloc as a visual deterrent to potential Russian

aggression. An Enhanced Forward Presence

(eFP) battlegroup was established in the Baltic

States and Poland, including 1,200 personnel –

mainly British, with Challenger tanks and Warrior

infantry fighting vehicles under Operation Cabrit,

augmented by Danish and French contingents.

The forces are primarily based at Tapa

in northern Estonia, with footprints

in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

In autumn last year, 661

Squadron declared its

readiness for hurricane relief

efforts in the Caribbean

but didn’t actually take part

in the ensuing Operation

Rumen. Then, that October, it

was decided that Cabrit and the eFP

would be reinforced with helicopters.

Although it conducted a significant amount of

ground training in advance of its move, 661 was

aware that the Estonian theatre differed from

anything its personnel had experienced before.

The squadron’s Corporal Lloyd Griffiths

explained: “It was different. Estonia is very

flat, and it’s got a lot of trees – at times it was

a little disorientating, but we were able to use

maps on a screen which made it a lot easier.”

Squadron commander Maj Alex Rivett

added: “It doesn’t really have a precedent.

It’s not like Northern Ireland, it’s a bit like the

Balkans. It’s training, so it’s a bit like being

Thomas Newdick visited Royal

Naval Air Station Yeovilton to

speak to British Army Wildcat AH1

crews, recently returned from a

successful deployment to Estonia.

Wildcat shows

its mettle

Formerly based in Germany, 1 Regiment

anywhere in the world within five days.

Squadron declared its

readiness for hurricane relief

efforts in the Caribbean

but didn’t actually take part

in the ensuing Operation

Rumen. Then, that October, it

F

Above: A crew from 661 Squadron briefs soldiers

from 1 Royal Welsh – including members of the

mortar, Javelin and sniper platoons – before they

board the Wildcats for a training mission in Estonia.

Left: James Lawrence Below: Padre Dixon fl ies in the

back of a Wildcat to visit AAC soldiers at a forward

arming and refuelling point (FARP) in Estonia.

88-89 Wildcat AFM Oct2018.indd 88 10/09/2018 14:19:53