Current Service
The Squadron reformed on May 22, 1986 and has operated in the same role since then. Originally operating the Chinook HC.1, these were replaced with HC.2s. The Chinook HC.2, equivalent to the US Army CH-47D standard, began to enter RAF service in 1993.
From 1988 to 2007, No. 78 Squadron was the only RAF squadron permanently based in the Falkland Islands. The four Tornado F3s which provide air defence are operated by No. 1435 Flight, while No. 1312 Flight operates a single Vickers VC10 and one C-130K Hercules.
In December 2007, No. 78 Squadron reverted to its previous identity of No. 1564 Flight and a new No. 78 Squadron formed at RAF Benson as part of the Joint Helicopter Command, flying the Merlin HC3 and the new Merlin HC3A helicopters purchased from Denmark. By 2008, the total fleet of twenty eight RAF Merlin helicopters will be operated in a pool with 28 (AC) Squadron, also based at RAF Benson.
Read more about this topic: No. 78 Squadron RAF
Famous quotes containing the words current and/or service:
“Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“His character as one of the fathers of the English language would alone make his works important, even those which have little poetical merit. He was as simple as Wordsworth in preferring his homely but vigorous Saxon tongue, when it was neglected by the court, and had not yet attained to the dignity of a literature, and rendered a similar service to his country to that which Dante rendered to Italy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)