Lt Col to take over 617 Sqn

As a part of the article below it talks about the new Sqn Cdr of 617 Sqn.

F-35 jets to embark on HMS Prince of Wales for exercise Strike Warrior 2024

Less odd than it might sound, as he’s RM not Army.

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I knew there was a Naval Air Squadron crewed by RM pilots, but I’d always assumed it was all helicopters and had no idea RM pilots could be streamed onto fast jets.

TBF nor did I. But it looks like they offer a great opportunity to move across to aviation then FJ!

There used to be RM pilots in Joint Force Harrier!

Started off on Sea Harrier, then move to GR7/9s

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There has been RN pilots on the Typhoon force as well.

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And RAF pilots flying with RN squadrons :man_shrugging:t2:

So why not a Purple cadet force then?

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There was an RM pilot on exchange with the USN - he flew F/A-18’s…

In the days of the RAF Buccaneer squadrons, they were the mainstay of the RN Buccaneer operations.

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BZ! Navy and Marines doing what they should be, being better than the RAF!

Wait a second, I’m in an RAF Forum. :smile:
Oops.

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It was the RAF Harrier pilot David Morgan, on exchange on No 800 FAA squadron who had the highest tally of kills of Argentine aircraft in the Falklands War.

Naval and RAF aviation has always had that cross pollination, because of the similar aircraft types.

In fact, when I was on the RAF Nordic Ski & Biathlon team, one of the team members had done a tour with the AAC prior to going back to flying Chinooks: the Army and RAF have always flown completely different makes of helicopter.

An equal exchange of inter-service common skills is one thing - I served with five RAF Regt SNCOs who had done the Platoon Sergeant exchange with the Royal Marines - but when the capability is taken over by another service (i.e. the Army) that is another.

The RAF lost both its ground-based air defence squadrons and CBRN units during the defence cuts of the early 2000s, and is now reliant upon the Army to do both jobs. That didn’t work in 1940 and 1941 in the first case, and wouldn’t have in the second if the Germans had used chemical agents. :roll_eyes:

If the RAF were to expand its personnel and capabilities to counter the most likely threat from our enemies, they should be the first two to be brought back.

I’m pretty sure GBAD/SHORAD is being looked at in some detail at the moment. The US have a useful looking new system, Sgt Stout, which could be adapted for Boxer/Ajax.

There’s also the Supacat based SHORAD system developed for Ukraine which might suit airfield defence and shares components with the Jackal the Reg already has.

Here’s Sgt Stout:

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One of the top CBRN units are the Royal Marine Band Service.

‘Band members train in CBRN defense casualty treatment. In 2018 they participated in the annual chemical warfare exercise on Salisbury Plain involving over 300 military personnel, along with 40 Commando, the RAF Regiment and the Defence CBRN Centre

The RAF have also had a USAF officer command an RAF flying Squadron, namely one Robin Olds.

’ Olds went to England under the U.S. Air Force/Royal Air Force Exchange Program in 1948. Flying the Gloster Meteor jet fighter, he commanded No. 1 Squadron at Royal Air Force Station Tangmere between October 20, 1948, and September 25, 1949,[55] the first foreigner to command an RAF unit in peacetime’

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ShorAD will likely come back into the RAF Regt soon enough: field squadrons have small UAVs used for surveillance, and it would make sense to introduce short range air defence systems. That would mean a squadron could be a combined air and ground defence unit, which would be the best use of it these days.

Longer range air defence could be provided by RAF specialist units…like the old Bloodhound detachments except mobile, maybe? :thinking:

The bottom line is that the RAF needs its air defence within its own structure at the tactical level. The Army has enough for its own Royal Artillery units to have to defend: they won’t be able to spare any fire units for the RAF. There’s no guarantee of that happening.

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Maybe that’s what a future air cadet squadron could / should look like too

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