1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team (United Kingdom)

1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team
Active	1 April 2020–present [1]
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Army aviation
Role	Attack Reconnaissance
Part of	Joint Aviation Command
Garrison/HQ	Middle Wallop Flying Station
Motto(s)	Fly, Fight, Lead[2]
Aircraft flown
Attack helicopter	Boeing AH-64E Apache
Observation helicopter	Wildcat AH1

The 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team is an aviation formation of the British Army.[3] Most of its units are from the Army Air Corps (AAC). It was stood up on 1 April 2020 by combining the Wattisham Flying Station Headquarters (WFS HQ), formerly the Attack Helicopter Force (AHF) at Wattisham and the Aviation Reconnaissance Force at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton.[3][4][5] It reached initial operating capability on 1 April 2021 and full operating capability on 1 January 2023.[6]

Structure

The units of the brigade are as follows:[7]

• Headquarters, 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team, at Middle Wallop Flying Station
  • 1 Regiment Army Air Corps, at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) (Aviation Reconnaissance, equipped with AgustaWestland Wildcat AH1)
  • 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, at Wattisham Flying Station (Aviation Attack, equipped with Boeing AH-64E Apache)
  • 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, at Wattisham Flying Station (Aviation Attack, equipped with Boeing AH-64E Apache)
  • 5 Regiment Army Air Corps, at Middle Wallop Flying Station
  • 6 Regiment Army Air Corps (Army Reserve), at Middle Wallop Flying Station (Ground Crew Reserve)
  • 47th Regiment Royal Artillery, at Larkhill operating Thales Watchkeeper WK450 Unmanned Air Systems,[8] since April 2021.[9]
  • No. 653 Squadron, Army Air Corps, at Wattisham Flying Station (Conversion Training Unit)
  • 7 Aviation Support Battalion REME, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers,[8] at Wattisham Flying Station[10]
    • 132 Aviation Support Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps[11]

See also

• List of Army Air Corps aircraft units (United Kingdom)

Footnotes

1. "Army establishes its 1st Aviation Brigade". British Army. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
2. "British Army Launches First Ever Aviation Brigade". Forces Net. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
3. "Army establishes its 1st Aviation Brigade". British Army (Press release). 5 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
4. "The Eagle Spring 2020 edition" (PDF). The Eagle. Wattisham. 1 April 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
5. Ripley, Tim (6 April 2020). "UK forms aviation brigade". IHS Janes. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
6. "British Army Newsletter Issue 5" (PDF). British Army. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
7. Watling & Bronk, pp. 27.
8. Cooper, Tim (3 August 2021). "Watchkeeper: Up Close With The UK-Built Drone That's Been Used In Afghanistan". Forces Network. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
9. "British Army Newsletter Issue 5" (PDF). British Army. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
10. "The Craftsman: Magazine of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers". Issu. 31 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
11. "The Sustainer: Royal Logistic Corps Regimental Magazine". Isssuu. Retrieved 20 April 2021.

References

• Watling, Jack; Bronk, Justin (2021). Occasional Paper: Maximising the Utility of the British Army's Combat Aviation. Whitehall, London, United Kingdom: Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.
• "Army, Question for Ministry of Defence — current Order of Battle by manpower and basing locations for the corps". United Kingdom Parliament — Written questions, answers, and statements. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2021.