Oldest Squadron of the UK's Fleet Air Arm to be disbanded

[fantassin]

800 Squadron, a Sea Harrier equipped squadron shore-based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset will be disbanded on March the 31st.

It should be re-created with Harrier GR9s on April 1, 2006.

It was created on May 2, 1933 and was the UK's oldest Naval Air Squadron; it was also the first to fly jet aircrafts and to fly the Sea Harrier. The aircrew will go to other squadrons and the aircraft will probably be stored in RAF St Athan.

This will leave 801 Squadron as the only front-line Sea Harrier unit, with 899 Squadron as training unit.

The last Sea Harrier is due to be retired in 2006. That will leave the Royal navy with an air defence gap that will last until the JSF enters service in 2008 at the earliest.

[Gringo]

"My Lord we have found an arsehole, may we burn him?"
"Who is it?"
"Geoff Hoon!"
"How do u know he's an arsehole"
"He looks like one!"

ty Monty Python and the Holy Grail, witch burning.

[ShadowNeo]

I think the aim is to have the Royal Navy and the RAF operating a combined fleet of GR9, which I think is simmilar to the current USMC Harriers with a few differences? So I don't think there will be a 3 year defence gap.

This would have happened at some point anyway, be it Hoon who instigated it or not.

[Flagg]

So what do the Sea Harrier pilots fly from 2006-2008?

Do they fly GR9s of just their Porsches?

[ShadowNeo]

I think the GR9 Fleet will be in service to replace the Sea Harriers as well as staying in service with the RAF.

Quick snippet from the RN Website:


The Future

On the 28th February 2002, the Armed Forces Minster Adam Ingram announced that the Joint Harrier Force will become an all ground attack harrier force upgrading the Royal Air Force GR7s to GR9s and retiring the Royal Navy FA2s. This is to ‘ensure a credible expeditionary offensive capability is maintained until the aircraft leaves service. Supporting this decision the Ministry of Defence said:


"These days we don't fight the kind of wars where our ships need defending from enemy warplanes far out at sea. Aircraft Carriers are now mostly supporting shore operations by flying strike missions and it makes far better sense to spend our money on Harriers which can do that best. If necessary, we can rely on coalition forces to provide the outer air defence for surface ships."


An added level to the layered air defence will be provided by the new Type 45 Destroyer equipped with the sophisticated and lethal Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) which is capable of controlling several missiles in the air at any one time, each one of which could engage individual targets, preventing attackers from swamping the fleet's air defences.


It is intended that the Harrier force be completely replaced by the Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA) also referred to as the Joint Strike Fighter which is due to enter service in 2012 and be operated from the Royal Navy’s Future Aircraft Carriers (CVF).

[von_Moo142]

This would have happened at some point anyway, be it Hoon who instigated it or not.

Indeed. IIRC it's been on the cards for a while now, so it might not even have been Hoon.

The GR9 in this role is only supposed to be a stop-gap measure until the two new carriers and the JSF come into service.

It's a shame, because the FA.2 is a pretty decent aircraft.

[ShadowNeo]

Yeah, I've always quite liked the FA.2, but I guess with some of the airframes approaching 20-25 years of service I think it may have been quite costly to continue to upgrade them.

I wouldn't think that fleet air defence would be too much at risk given the types of conflicts we are involved with (and probably wills till be involved with until the introdction of JSF) and the allies we have with us :).

[Fenna]

The FA2 is a great aircraft. In fact it has one of the world's best radars in the Blue Vixen.

It's a shame they're being retired, but the future of the Royal Navy does look better than it did in the 60s/70s atleast.