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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
- 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