No. XIII Squadron RAF

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=No. XIII Squadron RAF


role=Air Interdiction, Ground Attack, Close Air Support, Reconnaissance, Suppression of enemy Air Defenses
equipment=Tornado GR4A
garrison=RAF Marham
motto="Adjuvamus tuendo" (We assist by watching)"
identification_symbol=A lynx's head in front of a dagger
dates=10 January 1915
battle_honours=

No. XIII or 13 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Tornado GR4A and GR4 from RAF Marham, Norfolk.

History

XIII formed at Gosport on 10 January 1915 and operated in France, initially on Army Co-operation duties and subsequently on bombing raids, pioneering formation bombing. The inter-war years saw the squadron operating a variety of aircraft types in England. By the autumn of 1939 the Sqn was equipped with Lysanders and operated in France until May 1940 when No. XIII Sqn changed role and theatre, flying a variety of bomber aircraft in the Mediterranean until the end of the War. Peace heralded the return to reconnaissance duties, originally with Mosquitos then Meteors and Canberras, operating from,Egypt Cyprus and Malta. In 1978 the Sqn returned to the UK, flying PR9 Canberras until the unit disbanded in 1982, creating an 8-year hiatus in its 91-year history.

Current role

The squadron reformed at RAF Honington on 1 January 1990 equipped with reconnaissance Tornado GR.1A aircraft. These aircraft were equipped with the new and somewhat embryonic reconnaissance equipment designed to exploit the night, all-weather capability of the Tornado by using a unique system of infra-red sensors and video recorders. The complete system is carried and allows the Navigator to either view the imagery in real time or later in the mission.

As the Allied Coalition began to deploy forces to the Gulf in the latter part of 1990, it quickly became apparent that the unique night reconnaissance capability of the Tornado GR.1A could provide vital intelligence to the Allied commanders. As a result, on 15/16 January 1991, immediately before hostilities commenced, 6 aircraft were deployed to Saudi Arabia. During the first nights of the War, the Reconnaissance Wing successfully discovered several of the elusive Scud sites, giving rise to the now famous 'Scudhunters' nickname.

The majority of sorties were however, tasked into Central and Eastern Iraq to identify the disposition of the various Iraqi ground forces in preparation for the ground offensive. Although the rest of the Coalition Air Forces moved to medium level operations after the first few nights of the air war, the GR.1As operated at night and at low-level for the duration of the conflict.

By the end of the War, some 128 reconnaissance sorties had been flown by the detachment. However, this was not XIII Sqn's only contribution to the coalition victory, for the Sqn was also fundamental to the success of the Tornado/TIALD (Thermal Imaging And Laser Designation) combination. In December 1990, the GEC-Ferranti TIALD pod existed in prototype form when it was decided to accelerate the development for possible use in the Gulf. 4 XIII Sqn crews began the work-up from mid-January and, after encouraging results, four aircraft flew to Tabuk. By the end of the War, 72 successful TIALD missions had been flown. After the war, the Sqn continued its peacetime training role at RAF Honington as well as taking part in Operation Jural, the monitoring of a No-Fly Zones in the South of Iraq below the 32nd parallel.

On 1 February 1994, No XIII Sqn moved to its present home at RAF Marham. Since that time, the Sqn has taken part in a number of successful exercises around the world from Yuma in America to Penang, Malaysia. Deployments to operational theatres have continued to be a major feature of the squadron's life having deployed on Operation Warden and Operation Bolton to monitor both the Northern and Southern No-Fly Zones. In more recent times the Squadron has been involved in Operation Telic where XIII Squadron crews were involved in flying operational missions over Iraq. As well as regular Operational commitments, the Sqn maintains a busy training schedule that included deployments to Canada and the US in 2006.

RAF Tornado squadrons

GR4A

*No. II Squadron - RAF Marham
*No. 13 Squadron - RAF Marham

GR4

*No. 9 Squadron - RAF Marham
*No. 12 Squadron - RAF Lossiemouth
*No. 14 Squadron - RAF Lossiemouth
*No. XV (Reserve) Squadron - RAF Lossiemouth
*No. 31 Squadron - RAF Marham
*No. 617 Squadron - RAF Lossiemouth

F3

*No. 25 Squadron - RAF Leeming
*No. 43 Squadron - RAF Leuchars
*No. 56 (Reserve) Squadron - RAF Leuchars
*No. 111 Squadron - RAF Leuchars
*No. 1435 Flight- RAF Mount Pleasant

ee also

*List of RAF squadrons

ource

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