UK Ministry of Defence, A customer-driven approach keeps the RAF's 100 Squadron in high demand. Unique in European military aviation, the Squadron ensures that new aircraft such as Typhoon get the best possible introduction into front-line service.
'The Boneyard' is 100 Squadron's home at RAF Leeming in north Yorkshire.
No. 100 Squadron has come a long way since its humble beginnings in February 1917. Formed at Hingham in Norfolk as a Royal Flying Corps Squadron, it was to be the RFC's first night bomber unit. Still regarded erroneously by many as a 'banner towing' unit, nowadays the Squadron plays a very different role providing a variety of military platforms with a whole range of training benefits.
“What people think 100 Sqn is – one single unit – it's not. It's actually three separate units,” Wing Commander Wayne White, Officer Commanding 100 Squadron, explained. “We have A and B flights, with 15 pilots and 12 Hawks. They do the target facilities, the aggressor or adversary squadron role, threats, targets etc. Then we have the Navigation Training Unit (NTU) with nine pilots, six air navigation instructors, four Hawks and a number of student Weapons System Officers. We train around 25 Weapons System Officers each year, that go on to fly the GR4 or the F3, and their course lasts six months.”
The perceived third strand of 100 Sqn is JFACTSU (the Joint Forward Air Control Training and Standards Unit). JFACTSU are not actually part of the Squadron but they do have two pilots and two Hawks supervised by Wg Cdr White and his team. All this means that 100 Squadron have an unusual chain of command, with Wg Cdr White working for the Station Commander via HQ 1 Group to Strike Command, the NTU working via HQ Training Group Defence Agency to Personnel and Training Command and JFACTSU working via HQ 1 Gp to HQ Land Command.
In today's leaner, meaner Air Force this structure is all about saving money.
“The way 100 Squadron works is economy of scale,” said Wg Cdr White. “We bring all the Hawks together, all the engineers and therefore it is more cost-effective. If you look at 29 Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit, they would need at least an extra three Typhoons to act as targets. That is an expensive business. We can do it with our Hawks. We can fly at 48,000ft, we can fly low and we can fly in all the environments that they want their targets in. We cost around a fifth of the flying hour cost of a heavy metal aeroplane. That makes a huge difference.”
The precise role of A and B flights is to provide airborne threats to other assets. These are not just fast-jet assets such as Typhoon, GR4, GR7 and the F3 but also a number of rotary wing platforms, Hercules C130s and even include Rapier training and fighter controllers. The Squadron also get involved in a variety of exercises such as the Joint Maritime Course, now known as Exercise Neptune Warrior.
“The maritime exercises enable us to play a variety of different roles including ship attacks, close air support, COMAOs, air defence
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