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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #362 MAY 2018 // 9

No 12(B) Squadron disbands

THE ROYAL Air Force’s No

12 (Bomber) Squadron has

disbanded, ending more

than a quarter of a century

of Tornado operations by

the unit. The squadron

lodged its standard at

RAF College Cranwell,

Lincolnshire on February

14 – its 103rd anniversary

• after displaying it before
  the Queen on February

2. Personnel have
   been reassigned to the
   remaining two RAF Tornado
   units: No IX (Bomber)
   and 31 Squadrons.
   The squadron flew its
   final Operation Shader
   sortie in the Middle East

on December 14 of last

year. Led by Officer

Commanding No 12(B)

Squadron, Wg Cdr Nikki

Thomas, it involved two

Tornado GR4s armed with

Paveway IVs and Brimstone

missiles completing an

armed reconnaissance

mission over Iraq.

“It was very poignant for

us to deliver the squadron’s

final flight as an operational

mission because, since

its reformation at RAF

Marham in January 2015,

12 Squadron has been

at the very forefront

of UK operations to

defeat Daesh,” said

Wg Cdr Thomas.

Deployed to RAF

Akrotiri, Cyprus, the unit

completed more than

1,000 Shader missions

in the past three years.

No 12(B) Squadron

will re-form as a

Typhoon squadron at

RAF Coningsby.

A pair of No 12(B) Squadron Tornado GR4s prepares to depart on the unit’s fi nal operational sortie with the type at RAF Akrotiri. Crown Copyright

David Billinge

829 NAS

decommissions

THE ROYAL Navy’s 829
Naval Air Squadron (NAS)

• which provided Merlin
  HM2s for the service’s
  Type 23 frigates – has
  been decommissioned at
  RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall.
  Crews and aircraft have
  been transferred to 814
  NAS as part of changes
  to the Maritime Merlin
  Force based at the station,
  which are intended to
  streamline operations with
  the introduction to service
  of HMS Queen Elizabeth.
  The Maritime Merlin
  Force’s 820 NAS will provide
  aircraft for the carrier, with
  814 NAS being responsible
  for the small ships’ flights
  on board Type 45 destroyers
  and Type 23 frigates,

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

vessels and shore-based

detachments. Operational

training will remain the

preserve of 824 NAS and

849 NAS will continue

to operate the Sea King

ASaC7 until later this year.

The Fleet Air Arm’s

forward fleet of maritime

Merlins stands at 25

helicopters. HMS Queen

Elizabeth will typically

require nine anti-submarine

Merlin HM2s and five

Crowsnest-equipped

ASaC machines. This

will leave 11 aircraft

available for small ships’

flights and the operational

training of both anti-

submarine and Crowsnest

crews. David Billinge

THE RAF has begun to

deploy its A400M Atlas C

transport aircraft to the

Falkland Islands. ZM

was noted at RAF Mount

Pleasant on March 27

and AFM understands the

type has formally replaced

the Hercules in providing

the RAF’s tactical airlift

capability in the South

Atlantic. The C -

has been operational in

the Falklands since the

station opened in 1985.

RAF A400Ms are not

currently able to receive

fuel in flight, and aircraft

deploying to the Falklands

need to stop for fuel in

South America for the

South Atlantic sectors.

Left: Atlas C1 ZM415, the fi rst

of the type in the Falklands,

touches down at Mount

Pleasant. Adam Spalding

Atlas arrives in the Falklands