page_title: Fleet Air Arm
section_title: Post-war history
hierarchical_section_title: Fleet Air Arm / History / Post-war history
caption_attribution_description: A Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 fighter (s/n VR943) of No. 804 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, is catapulted from the British light fleet aircraft carrier HMS Glory (R62), during Korean war operations circa June 1951.
context_page_description: The Fleet Air Arm is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II in a Maritime Strike Role, the AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin in both Commando and Anti-Submarine roles, and the BAE Hawk in an aggressor role.
  The Fleet Air Arm today is a predominantly rotary force, with helicopters undertaking roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish.
  The Fleet Air Arm was formed in 1924 as an organisational unit of the Royal Air Force which was then operating the aircraft embarked on RN ships – the Royal Naval Air Service having been merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps in 1918, to form the Royal Air Force – and did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939. During the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navy's shore establishments and facilities.
context_section_description: After the war the FAA needed to fly jet aircraft from their carriers. The jet aircraft of the era were considerably less effective at low speeds than propeller aircraft, but propeller aircraft could not effectively fight jets at the high speeds flown by jet aircraft. The FAA took on its first jet, the Sea Vampire, in the late 1940s. The Sea Vampire was the first jet credited with taking off and landing on a carrier. The Air Arm continued with high-powered prop aircraft alongside the new jets resulting in the FAA being woefully outpowered during the Korean War. Nevertheless, jets were not yet wholly superior to propeller aircraft and a flight of ground attack Hawker Sea Furies downed a MiG-15 and damaged others in an engagement.
  As jets became larger, more powerful and faster they required more space to take off and land. The US Navy simply built much larger carriers. The Royal Navy had a few large carriers built and completed after the end of the war but another solution was sought. This was partly overcome by the introduction of a Royal Navy idea to angle the flight deck away from the centre line so that the aircraft landing had a clear run away from the usual forward deck park. An associated British invention, intended to provide more precise optical guidance to aircraft on final approaching the deck, was the Fresnel lens optical landing aid. Another Royal Navy invention was the use of a steam-powered catapult to cater for the larger and heavier aircraft (both systems were adopted by the US Navy).
  Defence cuts across the British armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s led to the withdrawal of existing Royal Navy aircraft carriers, transfer of Fleet Air Arm fixed-wing jet strike aircraft such as the F-4K (FG.1) Phantom II and Buccaneer S.2 to the Royal Air Force, and cancellation of large replacement aircraft carriers, including the CVA-01 design. The last conventional carrier to be retired was HMS Ark Royal in 1978. When HMS Hermes was converted in 1980/81 to a STOVL carrier to operate Sea Harriers, a 'Ski-jump ramp' was fitted to aid take-off. A new series of small carriers, the Invincible class anti-submarine warfare ships (known as "through deck cruisers") were built and equipped with the Sea Harrier a derivative of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier VTOL aircraft. These carriers incorporated an upswept forward section of the flight deck that deflected the aircraft upward on launch and permitted heavier loads to be carried by the Harrier, for example in weaponry, and the system was used extensively in the Falklands War, with both Hermes and Invincible part of the Task Force.
  At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the Fleet Air Arm was under the command of the Flag Officer Naval Air Command, a rear admiral based at RNAS Yeovilton.
  Flag Officer Naval Air Command (FONAC), at RNAS Yeovilton
  RNAS Prestwick:
  819 Naval Air Squadron, (Anti-submarine, 12× Sea King HAS.5)
  826 Naval Air Squadron, (Anti-submarine, 12× Sea King HAS.6)
  HMS Gannet SAR Flight, (Search & Rescue, 8× Sea King HU.5)
  RNAS Yeovilton:
  707 Naval Air Squadron, (Air Assault, 10× Sea King HC.4)
  800 Naval Air Squadron, (12× Sea Harrier FA.2)
  801 Naval Air Squadron, (12× Sea Harrier FA.2)
  845 Naval Air Squadron, (Air Assault, 10× Sea King HC.4)
  846 Naval Air Squadron, (Air Assault, 10× Sea King HC.4)
  899 Naval Air Squadron, (Training, 24× Sea Harrier FA.2)
  Fleet Requirements and Aircraft Direction Unit, (Aggressor Squadron, Canberra TT.18, Hawker Hunter GA.11)
  RNAS Culdrose:
  705 Naval Air Squadron, (Basic Helicopter Training, 38× Gazelle HT.2)
  706 Naval Air Squadron, (Sea King Training, 12× various types of Sea King)
  750 Naval Air Squadron, (Observer Training, Jetstream T2)
  771 Naval Air Squadron, (Search & Rescue, 12× Sea King HU.5)
  814 Naval Air Squadron, (Anti-submarine, 12× Sea King HAS.5)
  820 Naval Air Squadron, (Anti-submarine, 12× Sea King HAS.6)
  824 Naval Air Squadron, (Anti-submarine, 12× Sea King HAS.6) (disbanded August 1989)
  849 Naval Air Squadron, (Airborne early warning and control, 10× Sea King AEW.2A, 4× Sea King AEW.5)
  RNAS Portland:
  702 Naval Air Squadro
caption: Hawker Sea Fury of No. 804 Squadron launched off HMS Glory during the Korean War, June 1951
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