The UK’s 809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), known as the Immortals, has been recommissioned as the second frontline Royal Air Force/Royal Navy (RAF/RN) squadron to be equipped with the F-35B Lightning Joint Strike Fighter.
The squadron was stood up at a ceremony at RAF Marham on 8 December 2023, close to 41 years to the day since 809 NAS was decommissioned as a Sea Harrier squadron.
“809 Naval Air Squadron has a proud heritage and it is therefore entirely fitting that our nation’s most capable F-35 combat air force now has a second RN/RAF frontline squadron which carries the ‘Immortals’ name into this modern era as we continue to expand our global carrier strike capability,” the UK’s Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Martin Connell, was quoted as saying in an RAF press release.
The RAF’s Air & Space Commander, Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, was quoted as saying, “On behalf of the RAF and our Combat Air Force, it is simply superb to see 809 Squadron stand up, continuing our endeavours to grow the Lightning Force.
“I know from my time on Joint Force Harrier and multiple tours in the Lightning enterprise, that when the RAF and RN operate together, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” Air Marshal Smyth added. “And when equipped with Lightning, it makes for an unbeatable combination for the Combat Air Force, capable of delivering next generation air power from land and sea.”
The UK now has four F-35 squadrons; as well as the other frontline unit, 617 Squadron (the Dambusters), there is 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron and 207 Squadron, which is an operational conversion unit.
The RAF noted in its press release that, of the more than 100 historic Fleet Air Arm units whose numbers are currently dormant, 809 was selected more than a decade ago as an F-35 formation, largely due to its illustrious history. As a strike and attack squadron it received battle honours from operations in the Arctic, Mediterranean, Burma, Suez and South Atlantic over a 41-year period.
