Special ceremony at RAF Marham marks formation of second squadron to fly F-35 supersonic jet

A second frontline squadron has been stood up to fly the RAF’s F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jets.

The first of the supersonic warplanes touched down at RAF Marham in Norfolk in 2018, arriving from America where they are manufactured.

The squadron, famously known as the Dambusters, 617 Squadron, was the first to be equipped with the multimillion-pound aircraft.

Now a second squadron, 809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), which is known as the Immortals and has a phoenix on its crest, has now reformed to also fly the jet.

The squadron was originally formed in 1941 and most recently operated in 1982, flying during the Falklands War before the squadron was decommissioned in December of that year.

As part of the ceremony, the former Commanding Officer of 809 NAS Tim Gedge presented the incoming Commanding Officer Nick Smith with the squadron’s crest.

Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, RAF Air and Space Commander, said afterwards that the plan is to be able to “readily deploy two frontline squadrons of Lightnings at sea, up to 24 aircraft” by late 2025.

“This is about adding more capability to our combat air force,” he said.

He continued: “The Royal Air Force’s primary role is to achieve control of the air in any time of conflict.

“We’re seeing this play out quite clearly in Ukraine at the moment where neither side has been able to gain control of the air.

“Because they’ve not, they’ve ended up descending into a World War One-style trench warfare, attritional warfare, and that’s mostly because neither side control the airspace above.

“It’s really underscoring the incredible importance of control of the air and a vital part of that is F-35, the fifth-generation capabilities."

The squadron will go on to a “pretty intensive work-up period” for much of the next year and continue to grow in size with new jets arriving and more personnel.

The Air Marshal said they will be ready to deploy on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in 2025.

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