8 Flight Army Air Corps
Encyclopedia
8 Flight Army Air Corps is one of the Independent Flights within the British Army's
Army Air Corps. 8 Flight is attached to the Special Air Service
and based alongside them in Hereford
.
The flight provides the SAS with their own light Special Operations Aviation support.
It is made up of four Eurocopter AS 365N Dauphin
helicopters which replaced Agusta A109
s in 2008 and two Aérospatiale Gazelle
helicopters. The flight previously operated four Agusta 109A's - all of which have now been retired. Two of the Agustas were captured from the Argentines
in the Falklands War
in 1982 as war prizes and the other two were bought from new.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Army Air Corps. 8 Flight is attached to the Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
and based alongside them in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
.
The flight provides the SAS with their own light Special Operations Aviation support.
It is made up of four Eurocopter AS 365N Dauphin
Eurocopter Dauphin
The Eurocopter SA 365/AS365 Dauphin 2 is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter .-Design and development:...
helicopters which replaced Agusta A109
Agusta A109
The AgustaWestland AW109 is a light-weight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter built by the Anglo-Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland...
s in 2008 and two Aérospatiale Gazelle
Aérospatiale Gazelle
The Aérospatiale Gazelle is a five-seat light helicopter, powered by a single turbine engine. It was designed and manufactured in France by Sud Aviation . It was also manufactured under licence by Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom , by SOKO in Yugoslavia and ABHCO in Egypt...
helicopters. The flight previously operated four Agusta 109A's - all of which have now been retired. Two of the Agustas were captured from the Argentines
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
in 1982 as war prizes and the other two were bought from new.
See also
- United Kingdom Special ForcesUnited Kingdom Special ForcesThe United Kingdom Special Forces is a UK Ministry of Defence Directorate which also has the capability to provide a Joint Special Operations Task Force Headquarters...
- Army Air Corps
- British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...