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Aviation arm of the Royal Navy

Fleet Air Arm
Founded1914 (as the Royal Naval Air Service)
1924 (as the naval branch of the Royal Air Force)
1937 (as part of Naval Service)
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
Size5,000 personnel
c. 160 aircraft
Part ofNaval Service
EngagementsSecond World War
Korean War
Operation Musketeer (Suez Crisis)
Falklands War
Gulf War
Bosnian War
Afghanistan War
Iraq War
Websitewww.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/fleet-air-arm Edit this at Wikidata
Commanders
Commodore-in-ChiefCatherine, Princess of Wales
Commodore Fleet Air ArmCommodore Stuart Finn [2][3]
Insignia
White Ensign
Roundels
Fin flashesFin flash Low visibility fin flash
Aircraft flown
AttackWildcat HMA2
F-35B Lightning II
FighterF-35B Lightning II
PatrolMerlin HM2
Wildcat HMA2
ReconnaissanceWasp III UAV,
Puma AE/LE UAV[4]
Commando Wildcat AH1
Peregrine rotary-wing UAV
TrainerAvenger T1
Prefect T1
Tutor T1
Juno HT1[5]
Jupiter HT1[6]
TransportCommando Merlin HC4/4A,
T150 UAV
Military unit

The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five RN fighting arms.[7] As of 2023[update] it is primarily a helicopter force, though also operating the F-35B Lightning II carrier-based stealth fighter jointly with the Royal Air Force.

The RAF was formed by the 1918 merger of the RN's Royal Naval Air Service with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps. The FAA did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939. During the Second World War, the FAA operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navy's shore establishments and facilities.

History

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Beginnings

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British naval flying started in 1909, with the construction of an airship for naval duties.[8] In 1911 the Royal Navy graduated its first aeroplane pilots at the Royal Aero Club flying ground near Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey under the tutelage of pioneer aviator George Bertram Cockburn.[9] In May 1912, naval and army aviation were combined to become the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The Naval Wing of the RFC lasted until July 1914 when the Royal Navy reformed its air branch, under the Air Department of the Admiralty, naming it the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).[10] By the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, the RNAS had more aircraft under its control than the remaining RFC.[page needed] The roles of the RNAS were fleet reconnaissance, patrolling coasts for enemy ships and submarines, attacking enemy coastal territory and defending Britain from enemy air raids, along with deployment along the Western Front. In April 1918 the RNAS, which at this time had 67,000 officers and men, 2,949 aircraft, 103 airships and 126 coastal stations, merged with the RFC to form the Royal Air Force.[12]

Fleet Air Arm

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On 1 April 1924, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force was formed, encompassing those RAF units that normally embarked on aircraft carriers and fighting ships.[13] The year was significant for British naval aviation as only weeks before the founding of the Fleet Air Arm, the Royal Navy had commissioned HMS Hermes, the world's first ship to be designed and built as an aircraft carrier. Over the following months RAF Fleet Air Arm Fairey IIID reconnaissance biplanes operated off Hermes, conducting flying trials.

On 24 May 1939 the Fleet Air Arm was returned to Admiralty control[14] under the "Inskip Award" (named after the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence overseeing the British re-armament programme) and renamed the Air Branch of the Royal Navy. At the onset of the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm consisted of 20 squadrons with only 232 frontline aircraft, and 191 additional trainers. By the end of the war the strength of the Fleet Air Arm was 59 aircraft carriers, 3,700 aircraft, 72,000 officers and men and 56 Naval air stations.

An elephant pulling a Supermarine Walrus aircraft into position at a Fleet Air Arm station in India (c. June 1944)

During the war, the FAA operated fighters, torpedo bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Following the Dunkirk evacuation and the commencement of the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force soon found itself critically short of fighter pilots. In the summer of 1940, the RAF had just over 800 fighter pilots and as personnel shortages worsened; the RAF turned to the Admiralty to ask for help from the Fleet Air Arm. Fleet Air Arm crews under RAF Fighter Command were either seconded individually to RAF fighter squadrons or entire as with 804 and 808 Naval Air Squadrons. The former provided dockyard defence during the Battle of Britain with Sea Gladiators.[15]

In British home waters and out into the Atlantic Ocean, operations against Axis shipping and submarines in support of the RN were mounted by RAF Coastal Command with large patrol bombers, flying boats and land-based fighter-bombers. The aircraft carrier had replaced the battleship as the capital ship of the RN and its aircraft were now its principal offensive weapons. The top scoring fighter ace with 17 victories was Commander Stanley Orr, the Royal Marine ace was Ronald Cuthbert Hay with 13 victories. A number of Royal Marines were FAA pilots during the war.

Notable Fleet Air Arm operations during the war included the Battle of Taranto, the sinking of the Bismarck, the attempt to prevent the Channel Dash, Operation Tungsten against the Tirpitz and Operation Meridian against oil plants in Sumatra.

Post-war history

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Hawker Sea Fury of No. 804 Squadron launched off HMS Glory during the Korean War, June 1951
Phantom FG.1 of 892 NAS aboard HMS Ark Royal in 1972
Two Sea Harriers from 800 Naval Air Squadron approach the flight deck of U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1984.

After the war the FAA needed to fly jet aircraft from their carriers. The jet aircraft of the era were considerably less effective at low speeds than propeller aircraft, but propeller aircraft could not effectively fight jets at the high speeds flown by jet aircraft. The FAA took on its first jet, the Sea Vampire, in the late 1940s. The Sea Vampire was the first jet credited with taking off and landing on a carrier. The Air Arm continued with high-powered prop aircraft alongside the new jets resulting in the FAA being woefully outpowered during the Korean War. Nevertheless, jets were not yet wholly superior to propeller aircraft and a flight of ground attack Hawker Sea Furies downed a MiG-15 and damaged others in an engagement.

As jets became larger, more powerful and faster they required more space to take off and land. The US Navy simply built much larger carriers. The Royal Navy had a few large carriers built and completed after the end of the war but another solution was sought. This was partly overcome by the introduction of a Royal Navy idea to angle the flight deck away from the centre line so that the aircraft landing had a clear run away from the usual forward deck park. An associated British invention, intended to provide more precise optical guidance to aircraft on final approaching the deck, was the Fresnel lens optical landing aid. Another Royal Navy invention was the use of a steam-powered catapult to cater for the larger and heavier aircraft (both systems were adopted by the US Navy).

Defence cuts across the British armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s led to the withdrawal of existing Royal Navy aircraft carriers, transfer of Fleet Air Arm fixed-wing jet strike aircraft such as the F-4K (FG.1) Phantom II and Buccaneer S.2 to the Royal Air Force, and cancellation of large replacement aircraft carriers, including the CVA-01 design. The last conventional carrier to be retired was HMS Ark Royal in 1978.[16] When HMS Hermes was converted in 1980/81 to a STOVL carrier to operate Sea Harriers, a 'Ski-jump ramp' was fitted to aid take-off. A new series of small carriers, the Invincible-class anti-submarine warfare ships (known as "through deck cruisers") were built and equipped with the Sea Harrier a derivative of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier VTOL aircraft. These carriers incorporated an upswept forward section of the flight deck that deflected the aircraft upward on launch and permitted heavier loads to be carried by the Harrier, for example in weaponry, and the system was used extensively in the Falklands War, with both Hermes and Invincible part of the Task Force. At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the Fleet Air Arm was under the command of the Flag Officer Naval Air Command, a rear admiral based at RNAS Yeovilton.

Fleet Air Arm inventory 1989

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The inventory of the Fleet Air Arm in 1989 consisted of the following aircraft:[17]

Post Cold War

[edit]
A formation of four Sea Harrier FA.2s from 801 NAS in 2005

In 2000 the Sea Harrier force was merged with the RAF's Harrier GR7 fleet to form Joint Force Harrier. The Fleet Air Arm began withdrawing the Sea Harrier from service in 2004 with the disbandment of 800 NAS. 801 NAS disbanded on 28 March 2006 at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron). 800 and 801 NAS were then combined to form the Naval Strike Wing, flying ex-RAF Harrier GR7 and GR9s. On 1 April 2010, NSW reverted to the identity of 800 Naval Air Squadron. The Harrier GR7 and GR9 retired from service in December 2010 following the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.[18]

Two new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers able to operate the F-35B short take-off and landing variant of the US Lockheed Martin Lightning II aircraft were constructed. In the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, it was announced that the carriers would enter service "from 2018".[19] The procurement plan is for a force of 138 F-35 aircraft, which are intended to be operated by both the RAF and FAA from a common pool, in the same manner as the Joint Force Harrier.[20] With the introduction of the F-35, the Fleet Air Arm will return to the operation of fixed-wing strike aircraft at sea. In 2013, an initial cadre of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots and aircraft maintenance personnel were assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps' Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501), part of the U.S. Air Force's 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for training on the F-35B. 809 Naval Air Squadron will be the first FAA unit to operate the F-35B and will be based at RAF Marham.[21]

Helicopters

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Helicopters also became important combat platforms since the Second World War. Initially used in the search and rescue role, they were later developed for anti-submarine warfare and troop transport; during the 1956 Suez Crisis they were used to land Royal Marine Commando forces, the first time this had ever been done in combat.[22] Originally operated only from carriers, the development of the Westland Wasp in the 1960s allowed helicopters to operate on all ships of frigate size or larger. Wasps, Sea Kings and Wessex helicopters all played an active part in the 1982 Falklands War, while Lynx helicopters played an attack role against Iraqi patrol boats in the 1991 Gulf War and Commando Sea King HC4s as well as the Lynx HMA Mk 8 from HMS Argyll, assisted in suppressing rebel forces in the British intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War in 2000.

Museums

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The Fleet Air Arm has a museum near RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) in Somerset, England, at which many of the great historical aircraft flown by the Service are on display, along with aircraft from other sources. There is also a Fleet Air Arm museum inside the Museum of Transport & Technology in Auckland, New Zealand. On display there is a full-size replica Fairey Swordfish, along with historic items and memorabilia.

The FAA today

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Personnel

[edit]

In 1938, Admiralty Fleet Orders 2885 announced the formation of an Air Branch of the Royal Naval Reserve. Thirty three unmarried men signed up for eighteen months full-time flying training; however, before these first volunteers were able to gain their wings Britain was at war. At the end of hostilities in 1945 the RNVR(A) was 46,000 strong, with over 8,000 aircrew. Post war the RNVR(A) comprised 12 dedicated reserve squadrons, grouped regionally into Air Divisions. However, defence cuts in 1957 disbanded the five Air Divisions, and the following year the RNVR was merged with the RNR.

Today

[edit]

As of 1 December 2013, the Regular Fleet Air Arm has a reported strength of 5,000 personnel,[23] which represents approximately 20% of the Royal Navy's total strength (excluding Royal Marines).

The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Aviation & Carriers), the professional head (and also Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm), is Rear Admiral Martin Connell as of February 2019.[24] Under First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin’s plans, the professional head of the Fleet Air Arm is set to shortly change to a one-star role, headed by a Commodore.[25]

Members of the Fleet Air Arm continue to be known as WAFUs.[26][27] WAFU ("wet and f**king useless") is said to actually derive from "Weapon and Fuel Users", a stores category for clothing.[28]

Reserve Air Branch

[edit]

The RNR Air Branch was commissioned at RNAS Yeovilton on 16 July 1980, and shortly afterwards 38 ex-regular aircrew began refresher training. Today the RNR Air Branch comprises approximately 250 ex-regular service Officers and Ratings, covering all aviation trades, tasked to support the Fleet Air Arm.

The Air Branch has its roots in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Air Branch, whose members served with distinction between 1937 through the Second World War until 1950 when it was disbanded. Formed on 3 April 1980, the Air Branch was initially established to provide additional Pilots and Observers to the Royal Navy, but later expanded to include all trades and specialisations of the Fleet Air Arm. Currently comprising some 320 personnel, HMS Pegasus is one of the biggest Units in the Royal Naval Reserve.

The name HMS Pegasus has a long and interesting history in the Royal Navy, dating back to 1585. The second HMS Pegasus was commanded by Prince William Henry, who later became King William IV, known as the Sailor King. In late 1786, the third HMS Pegasus was stationed in the West Indies under then Captain Horatio Nelson, earning three of her four Battle Honours. The fourth and last HMS Pegasus served as a prototype fighter catapult ship, originally commissioned as HMS Ark Royal, serving primarily on convoy duty in the Second World War.

The name Pegasus has associations outside of the Royal Navy, including the Bristol Aeroplane Company engine that powered the Fairey Swordfish and the Rolls Royce engine that powered the BAE Sea Harrier. And, of course, the Parachute Regiment use Pegasus as their emblem.

Insignia

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Fleet Air Arm pilot wings
Fleet Air Arm Captain and Pilot

The FAA is known for its use of the 'Fleet Air Arm Zig Zag': a light blue zig zag on a dark blue background.

The pattern is thought to have belonged to the "Perch Club", membership of which was restricted to those who had completed 100 deck landings without an accident. The zig zag was thought to have been taken from a Creeping Line Ahead, a parallel search pattern performed by FAA aircraft in a carrier task group.[29]

Today, the dark blue background represents the Royal Navy; the colour of the zigzag represents the Royal Flying Corps, from which the Royal Naval Air Service was born; and the zigzag shape represents a nod to the Royal Artillery (red zigzag on blue background), given that the first people sent aloft in tethered balloons to spot the fall of shot were Royal Artillery observers. It was these observers who became early members of the Royal Flying Corps.30

Notable members

[edit]
Vice-Admiral Richard Bell Davies, first naval aviator to receive the VC and the first naval aviator of the Fleet Air Arm to reach flag rank

Some 64 naval pilots and nine observers have reached flag rank in the Royal Navy and four Royal Marines pilots general rank in the Royal Marines. Four of these admirals with pilot's 'wings' were air engineering officers (test pilots) and two were supply officers; two of the non-executive officers reached four-star rank: a supply officer, Admiral Sir Brian Brown (1934–), and a Royal Marine, General Sir Peter Whiteley (1920–2016).

  • At least 21 naval Air Engineer Officers (AEOs) have reached flag rank (including the four test pilots (see above)).

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "ROYAL NAVY SHOWS COMMITMENT TO DRONE TECHNOLOGY FOR FUTURE OPERATIONS". Royal Navy. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "No. 63151". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 October 2020. p. 17730.
  3. ↑ "NAVY'S DRONE EXPERTS 700X NAS READY TO DEPLOY ON WARSHIPS".
  4. ↑ "705 Naval Air Squadron | Royal Navy". royalnavy.mod.uk.
  5. ↑ Perry, Dominic. "PICTURES: Juno and Jupiter helicopters arrive at RAF Shawbury". Flightglobal.
  6. ↑ "THE ROYAL NAVY'S SURFACE FLEET" (PDF). royalnavy.mod.uk. MOD UK. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Naval Aviation history and the Fleet Air Arm Origins". fleetairarmarchive.net. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Training of Naval Officers at Eastchurch". Flight. III (124): 420. 13 May 1911. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Roskill 1969, p. 156.
  10. ↑ Boyne 2003, p. 70.
  11. ↑ "Interwar: Fleet Air Arm". Sea Your History. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "The History of the Fleet Air Arm Officers Association, FAAOA". fleetairarmoa.org. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "Fleet Air Arm squadrons taking part in the Battle of Britain under RAF Fighter Command". Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939–1945. Archived from the original on 25 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  14. ↑ Manning, p. 149
  15. ↑ "World's Air Forces 1989". Flight International: 61–62. 29 November 1989. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  16. ↑ "Naval Strike Wing". royalnavy.mod.uk. Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  17. ↑ "National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. November 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016. Two new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. These will enter service from 2018, transforming the Royal Navy's ability to project our influence overseas. (p. 30)
  18. ↑ Jennings, Garth (4 November 2015). "UK signs for more operational F-35Bs". janes.com. IHS Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. 14 September 2016
  19. ↑ "809 NAVAL AIR SQUADRON". royalnavy.mod.uk. Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016. 809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) has been resurrected as the first Royal Navy formation to fly the UK's Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
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  21. ↑ "Royal Navy monthly situation report" (PDF). 1 December 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014. See table 4a page 18 and table 4b page 20
  22. ↑ "All Change at the Top Fleet Air Arm".
  23. ↑ at 2:35 pm (23 December 2019). "Royal Navy To Cut Back On Senior Personnel". Forces Network. Retrieved 8 January 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ "Fleet Air Arm Video Page: "Once a WAFU, Always a WAFU"". Royal Naval Association Wrexham Branch. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  25. ↑ Hind, Bob (30 June 2020). "Royal Navy flyers land on pitching postage stamp deck". The News (Portsmouth). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  26. ↑ Jolly, Rick (25 January 2018). Jackspeak: A guide to British Naval slang & usage. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1472834140. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  27. ↑
  28. ↑ "Royal Flying Corps – people". airhistory.org.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  29. ↑ "Kay Canvas". kaycanvas.com. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  30. ↑ "Royal Navy BR3 – Dress Regulations" (PDF). p. 39E–1.
  31. ↑ "Building up the Lightning Force – when will the UK get its F-35 jets? | Navy Lookout". 14 September 2022.
  32. ↑ @NavyLookout (8 December 2023). "@NavyLookout F-35 with @809NAS 'phoenix from the flames' tail art on display at @RAF_Marham as the squadron recommissions today" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 December 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  33. ↑ "Osborne: UK to speed up aircraft carrier jet purchase". BBC News. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
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  35. ↑ "UK looking at '60 and then maybe up to 80′ F-35B jets". 23 March 2021.
  36. ↑ "F-35 Aircraft".
  37. ↑ "UK to purchase at least 74 F-35 jets | Navy Lookout". 27 April 2022.
  38. ↑ "UK declares IOC Land for F-35 force". IHS Janes. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  39. ↑ "Key.Aero - the Only Destination for Aviation Enthusiasts".
  40. ↑ "British F-35 jet crashes into Mediterranean". TheGuardian.com. 17 November 2021.
  41. ↑ "More F-35 jets delivered to the UK". 4 November 2021.
  42. ↑ "Further five F-35 fighter jets land at RAF Marham". 4 August 2018.
  43. ↑ Hoyle, Craig (1 April 2026). "UK receives last F-35B from initial 48-aircraft acquisition". Flight Global. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  44. ↑ "UK military pilot training in limbo for beleaguered RAF". 7 November 2022.
  45. ↑ "Oral evidence: Work of the Chief of the Air Staff, HC 1108". 1 February 2023.
  46. ↑ "NAO report confirms UK F-35 fleet under-staffed and under-armed". Navy Lookout. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  47. ↑ "UK F-35 fleet stretched by combat operations and upgrade delays". Navy Lookout. 18 May 2026. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
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  50. ↑ "DHFS rebadging as No. 1 FTS – Shropshire Star". 29 February 2020.
  51. ↑ "DE&S delivers Merlin Mk4". Defence Equipment & Support. 24 May 2018.
  52. ↑ "Whither Britain's Helicopter Capability?". Defence Eye. 1 July 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  53. ↑ "Whither Britain's Helicopter Capability?". Defence Eye. 1 July 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  54. ↑ "Merlin Mk 2 | Royal Navy".
  55. ↑ Vavasseur, Xavier (11 April 2019). "First Flight For Royal Navy's Merlin Crowsnest AEW Helicopter". Naval News.
  56. ↑ Scott, Richard (16 June 2025). "UK declared FOC for Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control". Naval News. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  57. ↑ "Crowsnest Airborne Surveillance and Control due to achieve Initial Operating Capability in 2023 | Navy Lookout". 19 December 2022.
  58. ↑ Allison, George (2 April 2021). "Royal Navy looking at fixed-wing carrier based drone for AEW". UK Defence Journal. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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  61. ↑ "eBee VISION". SupplyCore. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  62. ↑ "eBee VISION". AgEagle. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
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  64. ↑ "Royal Navy experts are embracing the next generation tech as they celebrate five successful years operating drones on the front line". Royal Navy. 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
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  67. ↑ "Peregrine rotary wing UAV to enter service with the Royal Navy". Navy Lookout. 10 February 2023.
  68. 1 2 "Peregrine rotary wing UAS conducts initial Royal Navy flying trials from HMS Lancaster". Navy Lookout. 11 September 2024.
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  73. ↑ "The Defence Investment Plan 2026 p. 68" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
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  76. 1 2 "X-men take to the Cornish skies". Royal Navy. 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
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Sources

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