No. XXV Squadron RAF

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=No. XXV Squadron RAF


role=Air defence
equipment=Panavia Tornado F3.
garrison=RAF Leeming
motto="Feriens tego" (Striking I defend)"
identification_symbol=A hawk rising on a gauntlet
dates=25 September 1915
battle_honours=

No. 25 Squadron (alternatively No. XXV Squadron) was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Until April 2008 the squadron operated the Panavia Tornado F3, from RAF Leeming.

History

No. 25 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps was formed in September 1915. The squadron moved to RAF Northolt, and in the Second World War flew Blenheims on night patrols. By the closing stages of the war the squadron was almost entirely committed to bomber escort missions. The squadron re-equipped with Meteor jets in 1954. The Squadron disbanded in June 1958. On 1 July 1958 No. 153 Squadron was renumbered as No. 25 Sqn and continued to fly Meteors until their replacement in 1959 by Javelin.

No. 25 Squadron disbanded again in 1962, reforming a year later as the RAF's first Bloodhound surface-to-air missile unit. In this role the squadron moved to RAF Bruggen in 1970, with detachments also protecing RAF Laarbruch and RAF Wildenrath. In 1983 the squadron moved to RAF Wyton, similarly protecting RAF Barkston Heath and RAF Wattisham.

The RAF withdrew the Bloodhound in 1989 and on 1 August the same year, the squadron reformed at Leeming as a Tornado F3 fighter squadron. Its primary role was Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) for Mid and South England and Wales. The squadron disbanded on April 4, 2008, the squadron's Tornados being relocated to RAF Leuchars and joining the remaining active Tornado F3 squadrons there.

ee also

*List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

External links

* [http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/25squadron.cfm Royal Air Force: 25 Squadron]
* [http://www.25squadron.org.uk/ XXV Squadron Association]