Armée Britannique/British Armed Forces

NAVY fliers who paved the way for Apache helicopter strikes against Gaddafi’s regime are safely home.

Nearly 50 members of 857 Naval Air Squadron today touched down at their Cornish base after four months away.

Using two Mark 7 Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control helicopters, crews flew almost 100 operational sorties over Libya - all at night and usually lasting around three hours.

In one month alone, the helicopters were airborne for nearly 150 hours. The squadron only returned from Afghanistan in December, where it proved vital in large drugs busts and surveillance missions.

The squadron was only due to go sea for around six weeks in the spring, to prove the UK’s new response force of ships and aircraft could stand ready. But in late May it was ordered to support operations off Libya and all the people, kit and helicopters were shifted to the 20,000 tonne helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.

The mission was to clear a path for the Apaches – finding safe routes in and out of Libya without being spotted. They also fed back real-time information about ground movements in Libya, passing vital information back to headquarters in Britain and at NATO for analysis.

Lt Cdr Geoff Hayward, Commanding Officer 857 NAS, said: “We did what we did at short notice, on war-fighting operations at sea with a squadron just back from Afghanistan. We very quickly got to grips with operating at sea again.

“Our main task was ‘wide area surveillance’, protecting Ocean and her escorts, providing awareness of shipping and movements so that Ocean could be in the best position to launch the Apaches and maintain surprise. The key to Ocean’s success was launching Apaches on their strike missions and to do that our Sea Kings were critical. It wasn’t just because of the situational awareness of land and air, but also because we acted as a communications link between the Apaches and the command on Ocean. That link was crucial to the success of missions.

“There’s a great feeling coming back to the ship, seeing the Apaches there, attending the briefing and realising that the information that you passed to them was absolutely vital.”

As well as the aircrew flying the demanding missions, 857’s CO praised the squadron engineers back on HMS Ocean who worked around the clock ensuring the helicopters were always ready for action.

He said: “They deserve a big pat on the back – they’ve worked extremely hard and achieved a fantastic serviceability rate.”

Air Engineering Officer Lt Mark Roddy said everyone in the squadron was aware of the importance of the missions – and were kept fully up to date with events. He said:

“People were told what we were trying to achieve, and that motivated everyone. The first night of strike operations stands out – seeing the lights on the shore, we could see the tangible results of all the effort that we’d put into that mission. It made a massive difference. We set out for seven weeks – and managed to stretch it to four months, maintaining a very high operational tempo. I think we’ve proven again how versatile these squadrons are.”

The squadron is now back at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall and is due to return to the front line in Afghanistan in due course.

PICTURE: Ministry of Defence - Members of 857 Naval Air Squadron chat on their return home from Libya.

The Navy's second hunter-killer submarine in the Astute-class has completed her first dive.

HMS Ambush completed the important milestone at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria ahead of sea trials early next year.

More than 70 Ministry of Defence personnel, BAE Systems engineers and Navy staff were involved in the two-day maiden dive, which proved the boat's safety and stability in water.

Commander Peter Green, Commanding Officer of Ambush, said: "This is a major milestone for Ambush and shows she is firmly on track to exit Barrow early next year in order to commence her sea trials.

"Nuclear submarines are some of the most complex machines on earth and therefore to see everything come together in order to dive the boat for the first time is very satisfying. It has been a superb team effort."

The Astute-class are the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines in the history of the Navy, boasting world-class design, weaponry and versatility.

They can travel over 500 miles in a day, allowing them to be deployed anywhere in the world within two weeks. They can fire Tomahawk missiles as well as carrying out intelligence-gathering missions.

A Seawolf missile system will be a key upgrade in a £20 million refit of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond.

It is being introduced across the entire fleet of Type 23 frigates as part of a £300 million programme.

The Seawolf short range ship defence missile system is designed to combat the increasing threat of faster, lower flying and more maneuverable missiles. It can track a target the size of a cricket ball at twice the speed of sound from over 20 miles away and launch two missiles to destroy it.

The MOD signed the contract for the refit in September with Babcock and the work will be carried out at their Devonport facility. The work is expected to last until next spring, with the ship due to return to the Fleet in the summer following sea trials.

Other upgrades include a new £800,000 command system that will be more cost effective to maintain and is compatible with other new ships entering service.

A new ‘brain’ of the ship’s weapons systems and upgraded communications systems are also being installed across the Type 23 Frigate Force to enhance operational capability and interoperability for the future.

An upgrade to the 30 mm automatic guns is also being carried out to extend their effective range and accuracy.

Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Peter Luff, said: “This refit work will see HMS Richmond follow previous Type 23 frigates in benefiting from a range of essential upgrades that will maintain her at peak effectiveness. These frigates continue to form the backbone of the Royal Navy’s ability to deploy worldwide in defence of the UK’s interests.”

Rear Admiral P D Hudson, Chief of Staff Operations Capability, Naval Command Headquarters, said: “This important work will not only deliver an essential refresh of the ship’s war fighting capabilities in a wide range of operational environments, but will also improve the living conditions for the ship’s company. We look forward to HMS Richmond returning to the Fleet ready for the challenges of warfare in the 21st Century.”

RAF Reaper Remotely Piloted Air System taxis along the runway at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.