Aircraft ZM161 (BK27) seen departing the Lightning Force's homebase at RAF Marham on the first independent sortie for the recently reconstituted 809 NAS. (Crown Copyright)
The Royal Navy's (RN's) 809 ‘Immortals' Naval Air Squadron (NAS) has flown its first independent sorties since being reconstituted in late 2023 as the UK's second operational unit for the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning combat aircraft.
The RN announced the milestone on 15 July, releasing an image of F-35B ZM161 (BK27) departing the Lightning Force's home base at Royal Air Force (RAF) Marham in eastern England.
“The Phoenix has risen,” the RN said in reference to the squadron's Phoenix motif, adding, “For the first time an F-35B of 809 Naval Air Squadron has completed a sortie flown by an 809 pilot, maintained, dispatched, and recovered solely by 809 personnel from RAF Marham.”
The event came seven months after 809 NAS was reconstituted on 8 December 2023, which itself marked the latest milestone in the UK's journey to fully reconstitute its Carrier Enabled Power Projection (CEPP) capability that was lost in 2010 with the retirement of HMS Ark Royal and the BAE Systems Harrier GR9 jets it operated.
During the standing up event, an F-35B adorned with 809 NAS's Phoenixemblem was presented to RN and RAF dignitaries at RAF Marham. As was noted at the time, the Phoenix decal emblazoned on the aircraft's tail was for the ceremony only and was removed shortly after. In the image released by the RN of its first squadron flight, ZM161 was shown in the standard livery of the Lightning Force, which does not feature unit names or symbology.
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