Military Resettlement, Business, Training & Recruitment
RAF SAR units were assigned 9 incidents, and 13 people were directly assisted by SAR teams over the period, including a heavily pregnant woman.
At Évreux-Fauville Air Base near Paris the aircraft will be loaded with armoured vehicles and other military equipment for transport to the Malian capital, Bamako. French forces are assisting the Malian government to contain rebel and extremist groups in the north of the country.
Flight 217 of 815 Naval Air Squadron is currently deployed on board the French frigate FLF Surcouf as part of Operation Atalanta, the EU ’s counter-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. The Lynx was sent ahead by the French warship to find the suspected pirates after the USS Halyburton, operating as part of NATO ’s Operation Ocean Shield , received a distress call from a merchant vessel reporting she was under attack from 6 men armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Boarding teams approach a suspected pirate vessel as Flight 217’s Lynx helicopter hovers above [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2013] Although the MSC Jasmine, sailing 260 miles off the Somali coast, managed to repel the attack themselves, a German EU maritime patrol aircraft was scrambled to track the suspect vessel, which was by then towing another boat with several more men on board.
The 4 servicemen from 815 Naval Air Squadron are among 1,500 Royal Navy personnel to receive medals for their part in the NATO -led Libya operation. The aircrew and engineers, based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, were presented with NATO Operation Unified Protector medals for their participation in the Libya operation while serving with 217 Flight on board HMS Liverpool . Left to right: Lieutenant Alastair Crawford, Petty Officer Paul Perry and Lieutenant Craig Farquharson with their Operation Unified Protector medals [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2012] The four who received medals for the operation were Lieutenant Alistair Crawford, Lieutenant Craig Farquharson, Petty Officer Paul Perry and Air Engineering Technician Matthew Parker
RAF and Royal Navy personnel have been training with the Flight Control Office – or Flyco – of the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at the BAE Systems simulator at Warton in Lancashire. When the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 comes in to land on the deck of the UK’s next carriers it will be vital that pilots are well-versed in the skills of landing on a moving deck.
Whilst Team GB were setting records at the London Olympics, the RAF Search and Rescue team of ‘C’ Flight, 22 Squadron, based at RAF Valley, reached their own milestone on ‘Olympic Super Saturday’ by completing the Flight’s 9,000th rescue.
Cyclists from the RAF have been taking part in a coast-to-coast charity cycle ride this week dedicated to Red Arrows pilot Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging who tragically lost his life this summer.
It is with sadness that the MOD must confirm the death of Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (The Red Arrows).
30-year-old Flight Lieutenant Rachael Cadman from RAF Cranwell could soon be the first woman ever to complete the gruelling Enduroman Arch to Arc; starting in London and finishing, five days later, in Paris.
Prime Minister David Cameron praised the work of Service personnel who provide the ‘airbridge’ between Britain and Afghanistan today as he took to the flight deck of the RAF’s newest transport plane.