Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron

Last updated

Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron
Raf joint aircraft recovery transportation squadron badge.jpg
Squadron badge
Active1 May 2007 (1 May 2007) – present
Country Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
BranchNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy
Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg  Royal Air Force
TypeAir Combat Service Support Unit
Role
  • Aircraft recovery & transportation
  • Aircraft Post-Crash Management
Size75 personnel (2020)
Part of No. 42 (Expeditionary Support) Wing
Home station RAF Wittering
Motto(s)Swift to Recover

The Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron (JARTS), informally known as Crash and Smash, [1] is a combined Royal Navy and Royal Air Force squadron that is tasked with the recovery and surface transportation of aircraft under the aegis of the British military framework. The squadron operates worldwide, and recovering aircraft from post-crash incidents is a large part of their work. Whilst they are a component of the British military, they may be asked to attend and recover aircraft from non-military incidents (such as the 2015 Shoreham Airshow crash) as they have a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Contents

History

Background

Personnel of No. 53 Repair and Salvage Unit in the Western Desert while transporting salvaged Hawker Hurricane fuselages to Helwan, Egypt during the Second World War. Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943 CM2232.jpg
Personnel of No. 53 Repair and Salvage Unit in the Western Desert while transporting salvaged Hawker Hurricane fuselages to Helwan, Egypt during the Second World War.

Assessing, salvaging, repairing and transporting crashed aircraft was the responsibility of No.'s 49, 58, 60 & 71 Maintenance Units during the Second World War. Gradually, 71 MU took over all responsibility for this task worldwide as well as carrying out routine aircraft transportation. This was strengthened as the other MU's were disbanded. 71 MU was formed in July 1940 at Slough with elements taken from 49 MU at RAF Faygate. [2] The unit was moved to RAF Bicester in 1953. [3] In 1976 the unit merged with 60 MU to form the Repair and Salvage Squadron (RSS) at RAF Abingdon. The RSS was moved to RAF St Athan in 1992 where it stayed for 15 years. [4]

Establishment

The Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron (JARTS) was established on 1 May 2007. It was formed from the RAF's Forward Support Integrated Project Team and the Aircraft Recovery & Transportation Flight (ARTF) based at MOD St Athan, which dealt with fixed wing aircraft post-crash management (ACPM) and the Royal Navy's Mobile Aircraft Support Unit (Transport & Salvage) at DARA Fleetlands in Gosport, which carried out similar activities for rotary wing aircraft. [1]

The two elements operated from their respective home stations until the Autumn of 2010 when they were combined at MOD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. [5] Boscombe Down's location near RAF Benson and RAF Odiham, AAC Middle Wallop and RNAS Yeovilton was seen as convenient for the frequent tasks involving helicopters that JARTS undertakes. [6] Initially subordinate to No. 85 (Expeditionary Logistics) Wing, at some point JARTS moved under the command of No. 42 (Expeditionary Support) Wing. [1] [7]

Between its inception in 2007 and October 2010, JARTS was responsible for the routine movement of 600 aircraft worldwide. [8]

Role

The Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron is the only unit within the British Armed Forces which carries out aircraft recovery and transportation. JARTS is based at MOD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. [9] It is part of the RAF A4 Force, the RAF's deployable engineering and logistics capability.

The squadron is primarily staffed by Royal Air Force service personnel and the Royal Navy make up the rest (about 20%). [10] [11]

Aircraft recovered by JARTS may have crashed or more typically suffered a hard landing. The squadron provides aircraft post-crash management (ACPM), specialist handling capabilities and onward transportation to the aircraft's home station or other location for repair or scrap. The unit also regularly transports retired military aircraft which are destined to become gate guardians or museum exhibits, which although a secondary to the main task of post-crash management, fulfils the bulk of JARTS's work. [11] [6]

JARTS also have a remit to assist the AAIB when requested to do so by the AAIB. [8] Some of the most notable instances of this have been Pan Am Flight 103 (the Lockerbie Disaster), the 2008 Boeing 777 crash at Heathrow [8] and the 2015 Shoreham Airshow crash, when a former RAF Hawker Hunter crashed onto the A27 road in East Sussex. The aircraft was in private hands, but because of the knowledge and experience held by JARTS of moving old aircraft that are used as gate guardians, the AAIB requested their help.[ citation needed ]

Moving gate guardians is also within the remit of JARTS. This can involve simply swapping aircraft over, such as at RAF Leeming when a Gloster Javelin was swapped for a Tornado F3 which was repositioned at the front gate; or when a base closes such as at RAF Brampton when its F4 Phantom was moved back to Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, from where it used to fly. [12]

Aircraft moves are also undertaken to enable training to be accomplished on them at various sites. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Air Force</span> Air and space warfare force of the United Kingdom

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played a significant role in British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Coningsby</span> Royal Air Force main operating base in Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby, is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 13.7 kilometres (8.5 mi) south-west of Horncastle, and 15.8 kilometres (9.8 mi) north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and home to three front-line Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 units, No. 3 Squadron, No. 11 Squadron and No. 12 Squadron. In support of front-line units, No. 29 Squadron is the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit and No. 41 Squadron is the Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron. Coningsby is also the home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) which operates a variety of historic RAF aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Abingdon</span> Former Royal Air Force station in Oxfordshire, England

Royal Air Force Abingdon, or more simply RAF Abingdon, is a former Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOD St Athan</span> Ministry of Defence site in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan, formerly known as Royal Air Force St Athan, or more simply RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Wattisham</span> Former Air Force base in Suffolk, England (1939–1993)

Royal Air Force Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham was, between 1939 and 1993, the name of a Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front-line air force base, operating Quick Reaction Alert (South), before closing as an Royal Air Force station in 1993. Since 1993 it has been operated by the British Army as Wattisham Flying Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grob G 115</span> German trainer aircraft

The Grob G 115 is a general aviation fixed-wing aircraft, primarily used for flight training. It is built in Germany by Grob Aircraft. The E variant with a 3-blade variable pitch propeller is in service with the Finnish Air Force, the Royal Navy and Army Air Corps for Flying Grading and in the Royal Air Force as part of No. 6 Flying Training School which provides flying to both University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights to Cadets of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. As of 2020, the Tutor is still being used by the RAF for some Elementary Flying Training (3FTS) but is due to be phased out in favour of its replacement, the more advanced Prefect T1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 2 Group RAF</span> Royal Air Force operations group

No. 2 Group is a group of the Royal Air Force which was first activated in 1918, served from 1918–20, from 1936 through the Second World War to 1947, from 1948 to 1958, from 1993 to 1996, was reactivated in 2000, and is today part of Air Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 56 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 56 Squadron, also known as No. 56 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), nicknamed the Firebirds for their ability to always reappear intact regardless of the odds, is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both the First and Second World Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOD Boscombe Down</span> Military test & evaluation airfield

MOD Boscombe Down(ICAO: EGDM) is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in 2001 by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 207 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 207 Squadron is a historic bomber squadron and, latterly, a communications and flying training squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was announced on 5 July 2017 that No. 207 Squadron will again reform to become the Operational Conversion Unit for the UK F-35B Lightning Force and will return to RAF Marham in Norfolk where it was last based in 1965. No. 207 Squadron arrived at RAF Marham with six F-35Bs on 16 July 2019 before officially standing to on 1 August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air and Space Warfare Centre</span> Air Space Warfare Centre at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, England

The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal Air Force research and testing organisation based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. It has a training branch nearby as a lodger unit of RAF Cranwell and other branches elsewhere, including at RAF High Wycombe, RAF Brize Norton, MoD Boscombe Down, and RAF Odiham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wattisham Flying Station</span> Military airfield in Suffolk, England

Wattisham Flying Station, formerly Wattisham Airfield, is a British Army airfield and barracks located near the village of Wattisham in Suffolk, England. It is home to the Army Air Corps' Apache attack helicopter force. A helicopter repair facility provided by 7 Aviation Support Battalion, REME and 132 Aviation Supply Squadron, RLC is also based at the airfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDonnell Douglas Phantom in UK service</span> British combat aircraft

The United Kingdom (UK) operated the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II as one of its principal combat aircraft from 1968 to 1992. The UK was the first export customer for the F-4 Phantom, which was ordered in the context of political and economic difficulties around British designs for the roles that it eventually undertook. The Phantom was procured to serve in both the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in several roles including air defence, close air support, low-level attack and tactical reconnaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Cosford</span> Royal Air Force training base in Shropshire, England

Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, England just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton.

No. 6 Flying Training School RAF is a Flying Training School (FTS) within No. 22 (Training) Group of the Royal Air Force that delivers flying training to University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights.

At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the Royal Air Force (RAF) structure was as follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Structure of the Royal Air Force</span>

This is the structure of the Royal Air Force.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nadin 2009, p. 38.
  2. ↑ Wise, Graham (2003). "Introduction". Ever Better - the history of 71 Maintenance Unit Royal Air Force (1 ed.). Createspace. pp. 1–3. ISBN   9781493694747.
  3. ↑ "RAF Bicester: a step back in time". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  4. ↑ "ST ATHAN SAYS GOODBYE TO 71 (IR) SQUADRON | Tathan Online". www.tathanonline.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "House of Commons Hansard Ministerial Statements for 13 May 2009 (pt 0001)". www.publications.parliament.uk. Hansard. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Moving and Recovering". Royal Air Force – The Official Annual Review 2020. Key Publishing. 2020. p. 107.
  7. ↑ "RAF Wittering – Who's based here". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 Nadin 2009, p. 40.
  9. ↑ Falcke, David (4 October 2012). "Behind the scenes at Boscombe Down". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "RAF - JARTS". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  11. 1 2 Gray 2014, p. 18.
  12. ↑ "Phantom guardian returns home to Wattisham - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  13. ↑ "Helicopter gets new life training people to deal with mass casualty accidents". Plymouth Herald. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.