Operation Herrick aerial order of battle

This is the Operation Herrick aerial order of battle, which lists any aerial or airfield protection units of the British armed forces that have taken part in the duration of Operation Herrick between 2002 and 2014.

For ground units not involved in airfield protection roles, see Operation Herrick order of battle.

Kandahar Force Protection Wing
British aircraftmen from B Flight, 27 Squadron, RAF Regiment take a break whilst on a combat mission near Kandahar Airfield, 2 January 2010

The Royal Air Force Regiment uses a variety of vehicles including Pinzgauer Vector's and WMIK's to externally protect Kandahar Airfield:

Bastion Force Protection Wing
  • OP H 4 (May – November 2006)
  • OP H 5 (November 2006 - April 2007)
  • OP H 6 (April 2007 - October 2007)
  • OP H 7 (October 2007 - April 2008)
  • OP H 8 (April 2008 - October 2008)
  • OP H 9 (October 2008 - April 2009)
  • OP H 10 (April 2009 - October 2009)
    • 34 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • OP H 11 (October 2009 - April 2010)
  • OP H 12 (April 2010 - October 2010)
    • 1 Squadron RAF Regiment
      • B Squadron
  • OP H 13 (October 2010 - April 2011)
  • OP H 14 (April 2011 - October 2011)
  • OP H 15 (October 2011 - April 2012)
  • OP H 16 (April 2012 - October 2012)
    • No. 5 Force Protection Wing
      • Wing Headquarters
      • 51 Squadron RAF Regiment
      • Elements of 2622 (Highland) Squadron RAuxAF Regiment
    • No. 2 Tactical Police Squadron
    • Soldiers from the Tongan Defence Service
    • Elements of 16th Regiment Royal Artillery
  • OP H 17 (October 2012 - April 2013)
  • OP H 18 (April 2013 – October 2013)
  • OP H 19 (October 2013 - June 2014)
  • OP H 20 (June 2014 - December 2014)
    • No. 7 Force Protection Wing

RAF Regiment
  • During January 2010 No. 3 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • During October 2010 No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • During February 2011 No. 2 Force Protection Wing RAF
  • During April 2011 No. 34 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • April 2011 - November 2011 No. 6 Force Protection Wing RAF
  • April 2011 - November 2011 No. 58 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • November 2011 - April 2012 No. 3 Force Protection Wing RAF
  • April 2012[2] - November 2012 No. 5 Force Protection Wing RAF - first unit to use the new Foxhound patrol vehicle
  • December 2012 - unknown No. 7 Force Protection Wing RAF
  • September 2013 - April 2014 No. 58 Squadron RAF Regiment

Aerial Assets

The initial helicopter complement was:3-5_3

  • 8 x Apache AH.1[3]
  • 4 x Lynx
  • 8 x Chinook[3]

The peak amount of helicopters was during January 2011 with:3-5_3

  • 11 x Apache AH.1
  • 4 x Lynx AH.9A
  • 9 x Chinook
  • 4 x Sea King HC.4+
  • 5 x Merlin HC.3

Mixed operators

The Westland Lynx AH.7/9/9A was used in Afghanistan by both the Army Air Corps and the Fleet Air Arm. With the Army Air Corps (AAC) it was operated by both 1 and 9 Regiments and with the Fleet Air Arm it was only used by 847 Naval Air Squadron (NAS).

The first unit to use the Lynx AH.9A was 672 Squadron/9 Regiment AAC during Mid 2010.

The Lynx was also used by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing of which 657 Squadron was part of. The squadron was deployed to Kandahar at least once during 2014 where one of its Lynx's was lost along with the entire crew.[4]

YearJanuary - MayMay - SeptemberSeptember - January
20069 Regt AAC
20073 Regt AAC
2008847 NAS[5]
2009847 NAS[5]
2010672 Sqn/9 Regt AAC[6]659/9 Regt AAC[7][8]
2011847 NAS[5]661/1[9]652/1[7]
20129 Regt AAC1 Regt AAC
2013847 NAS[10]661/1 Regt AAC[10]
2014

Army Air Corps

The Army Air Corps operated the AgustaWestland AH.1 Apache and the Westland Lynx AH.7/9/9A in Afghanistan.

The AgustaWestland AH.1 Apache was operated by 3, 4 and pre September 2007 9 Regiment

YearJanuary - MayMay - SeptemberSeptember - January
2006N/A656 Sqn/9 Regt664/9 Regt
2007656/9 Regt664/9 Regt662/3 Regt
2008663/3 Regt664/4 Regt654/4 Regt
2009656/4 Regt662/3 Regt663/3 Regt
2010653/3 Regt[11]664/4 Regt654/4 Regt
2011662/3 Regt663/3 Regt653/3 Regt[12]
2012654/4 Regt[13]664/4 Regt[13]662/3 Regt[14]
2013663/3 Regt653/3 Regt[15]654/4 Regt[16]
2014664/4 Regt[17]664/4 Regt662/3 Regt

Royal Air Force

The air component of British forces assigned to Operation Herrick was based at both Kandahar Airfield under 904 Expeditionary Air Wing (904 EAW) and Camp Bastion under 903 EAW.

Fixed Wing

In August 2004, the Ministry of Defence announced that 6 Royal Air Force British Aerospace Harrier GR.7 jets from No. 3 Squadron would deploy to Afghanistan, marking the first time RAF ground-attack jets have been deployed to the country with them fully arriving by September.

  • Harrier detachment (Joint Force Harrier):[18]
    • No. 3 Squadron RAF from September until December 2004.
    • No. 1 Squadron RAF from December 2004 until April 2005.
    • No. 4 Squadron RAF from April until July 2005.
    • 3 Sqn from July until October 2005.
    • 4 Sqn from October until December 2005.
    • 1 Sqn from December 2005 until May 2006.
    • 4 Sqn from May until September 2006.
  • During 2007 the GR.9A variant was introduced
    • 1 Sqn from January 2007 until June.
    • 4 Sqn from June until October 2007.
    • 4 Sqn from February 2008 until April.
    • 1 Sqn from April until August 2008.
    • 4 Sqn from December 2008 until April 2009.
    • 1 Sqn from April until June 2009 (Last British Harrier Squadron in Afghanistan).
  • Tornado detachment (Jun 09 - 11 Dec 14) - Eight Tornado GR4 aircraft were stationed at Kandahar tasked with providing close air support to British, Coalition and ISAF ground forces. These replaced the Joint Force Harrier aircraft - eight Harrier GR9
  • Hercules detachment (6 Apr 06 - 14 Nov 14)[23] - Five C-130 Hercules transport aircraft from RAF Brize Norton (formerly RAF Lyneham) were also stationed at Kandahar and Camp Bastion to provide troop and supply movement capability in Helmand and wider Afghanistan. Three aircraft were C-130K models and two were C-130J, with crews taken from all four RAF Hercules squadrons:
  • Sentinel detachment - Raytheon Sentinel R.1 were first deployed from February 2009
    • Sentry detachment - Boeing Sentry AEW.1 were deployed to Afghanistan

      Rotary Wing

      Other units

      • UAV Detachment - 3 x MQ-9 Reaper were introduced to Kandahar during October 2007.
      • 1 Air Mobility Wing (1 AMW) is a specialist unit of the RAF trained in the loading and unloading of transport aircraft. This unit operated in conjunction with the Hercules detachment.
      • Tactical Medical Wing - The TMW provided RAF medical services to all forces, and is particularly adept in the field of aeromedical evacuation.
      • Mobile Meteorological Unit - Providing weather forecasting and reporting services to aircrew and commanders.
      • 47 Air Despatch Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps - 47 AD Squadron is a specialist unit trained in the receipt, loading and preparing of stores by both helicopter and fixed wing aircraft.

      Fleet Air Arm

      Elements of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm squadrons regularly rotated with each tour.

      The ASaC7 version of the Westland Sea King has been in use in Afghanistan since May 2009.[26]

      References

      Citations
      1. March 2008, p. 9.
      2. "5 Force Protection Wing". RAF. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
      3. Fairweather 2014, p. 192.
      4. Farmer, Ben (2014-04-27). "Army's most skilled pilots among five killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
      5. "RNAS Yeovilton 847 squadron deployed to Afghanistan". BBC News. BBC. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
      6. "Lynx Mk9A on Op Herrick Afghanistan". LZDZ. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
      7. Ripley, Tim (January 2011). British Army Aviation in Action. p. 219. ISBN 9781848846708.
      8. "Afghan pilots deliver election material, personnel".
      9. https://ukforcesafghanistan.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/british-force-news-lynx-helicopters-make-their-mark-in-afghanistan/
      10. "847 Lynx fliers complete final Afghan duty". Royal Navy. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
      11. "Wattisham Army Air Corps regiments in Afghanistan". BBC. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
      12. "653 Squadron, 3 Regt AAC Operation Herrick 14: A Ground Crew Perspective". The Eagle. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
      13. "Diamond welcome for troops back from Afghanistan". MoD. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
      14. "UK's Prince Harry deployed to Afghanistan". CNN. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
      15. "Sailors help give the Army's Apaches wings in Afghanistan". Royal Navy. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
      16. "Corby airtrooper embarks on final training exercise before deployment". Northampton Herald and Post. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
      17. "Apache flies 50,000 hours on operations in Afghanistan". MoD. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
      18. Herrick Harriers. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. 2009. p. 17.
      19. AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. September 2013. p. 27.
      20. AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. March 2014. p. 27.
      21. AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. July 2014. p. 7.
      22. "RAF Tornados leave Afghanistan for the last time". MoD. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
      23. "RAF Hercules Detachment Leaves Afghanistan". RAF. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
      24. March 2008, p. 8.
      25. "Navy Sea Kings complete Afghanistan mission". MoD. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
      26. "Sea Kings help seize massive drugs and explosive hauls". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
      27. "Operations in Afghanistan: Chronology of Events". MoD. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
      28. "Latest deployment of UK forces to Afghanistan announced". MoD. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
      29. AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. October 2014. p. 33.
      30. "Baggers get back to sea". Royal Navy. Retrieved 17 September 2014.

      Bibliography
      • Fairweather, J (2014). The Good War. UK: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978-0-224-09736-9.
      • March, P (2008). The Royal Air Force Yearbook 2008. Fairford, UK: The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises.
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