Operation Herrick Order of Battle - Air Forces

Air Forces

The air component of British forces assigned to Operation Herrick is based at Kandahar and comes under the overall command of 904 Expeditionary Air Wing. In August 2004, Britain announced that 6 Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 jets from No. 3 Squadron would deploy to Afghanistan, marking the first time RAF ground-attack jets have been deployed to the country. They fully arrived in September.

  • Tornado detachment - Eight Tornado GR4 aircraft are stationed at Kandahar tasked with providing close air support to British, Coalition and ISAF ground forces. These replaced the Joint Force Harrier aircraft - eight Harrier GR9
  • Hercules detachment - Five C-130 Hercules transport aircraft from RAF Lyneham are also stationed at Kandahar to provide troop and supply movement capability in Helmand and wider Afghanistan. Three aircraft are C-130K models and two are C-130J, with crews taken from all four RAF Hercules squadrons:
    • No. 24 Squadron RAF
    • No. 30 Squadron RAF
    • No. 47 Squadron RAF
    • No. 70 Squadron RAF
  • No. 1310 Flight RAF - The support helicopter force consists of 8 Chinook HC2 helicopters with crews rotated from the three RAF squadrons:
    • No. 7 Squadron RAF
    • No. 18 Squadron RAF
    • No. 27 Squadron RAF
  • No. 1419 Flight RAF - The support helicopter force consists of 5 Merlin HC3 helicopters with crews rotated from the two RAF squadrons:
    • No. 28 Squadron RAF
    • No. 78 Squadron RAF

Also under the command of 904 EAW are a number of ground based units of both the Army and RAF:

  • RAF Regiment - A field squadron assigned to Kandahar to provide ground defence for the airfield.
    • June 2006 - October 2006 No. 34 Squadron RAF Regiment
    • October 2006 - April 2007 No. 2 Squadron RAF Regiment
    • April 2007 - October 2007 No. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment
    • October 2007 - April 2008 No. 15 Squadron RAF Regiment
    • April 2008 - October 2008 No. 3 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • 1 Air Mobility Wing - The 1 AMW is a specialist unit of the RAF trained in the loading and unloading of transport aircraft. This unit operates in conjunction with the Hercules detachment.
  • Tactical Medical Wing - The TMW provides RAF medical services to all forces, and is particularly adept in the field of aeromedical evacuation.
  • Mobile Meteorological Unit - Providing weather forecasting and reporting services to aircrew and commanders.
  • 47 Air Despatch Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps - 47 AD Squadron is a specialist unit trained in the receipt, loading and preparing of stores by both helicopter and fixed wing aircraft.

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