Phoenix rising: iconic Naval unit re-born as UK’s second front-line F-35 squadron
From the ashes the torch today passed between generations of pilots, and the UK – and Navy – gained a new front-line fast-jet squadron.
809 Naval Air Squadron joins the RAF’s 617 ‘Dambusters’ as the second, front-line stealth fighter formation, operating the F-35B Lightning.
Nearly 41 years to the day that 809 – known as the Phoenix Squadron, its pilots nicknamed The Immortals – passed into history at RNAS Yeovilton, it was brought back to life in front of scores of friends, family and VIPs at RAF Marham.
The last naval officer to hold the title of 809 Commanding Officer, Commander Tim Gedge, symbolically presented the unit crest – a phoenix rising from the flames – to the pilot in charge of its re-birth, Commander Nick Smith, the emotional high point of an hour-long ceremony and service which concluded with an F-35 flypast over the Norfolk air base.
“It is an honour and privilege to be afforded the opportunity to command 809 NAS and lead the workup to Full Operational Capability,” Commander Smith said.
“The Squadron has a rich history of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force integration from the days of operating the Blackburn Buccaneer at RAF Lossiemouth in the 1960s and 1970s, to the Falklands Conflict in 1982 and this is set to endure well into the future.
“The latest re-incarnation of ‘Phoenix Squadron’ will see this joint service approach deliver a world-leading fifth-generation combat air capability, deployable from both land and sea.”
Continues, including photos, at -
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... 5-squadron
Also -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-67663054
41 years on from the Falklands War, former 809 NAS boss Tim Gedge passed the baton to the new CO, Cdr Nick Smith, as the Phoenix Squadron stood up as an F-35B unit at RAF Marham this morning. An absolute pleasure and privilege to have been there to see it. BZ to all involved.