![]() ![]() In April 1918 the RNAS, which at this time had 67,000 officers and men, 2,949 aircraft, 103 airships and 126 coastal stations, merged with the RFC to form the Royal Air Force. The roles of the RNAS were fleet reconnaissance, patrolling coasts for enemy ships and submarines, attacking enemy coastal territory and defending Britain from enemy air raids, along with deployment along the Western Front. By the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, the RNAS had more aircraft under its control than the remaining RFC. The Naval Wing of the RFC lasted until July 1914 when the Royal Navy reformed its air branch, under the Air Department of the Admiralty, naming it the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In May 1912, naval and army aviation were combined to become the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). In 1911 the Royal Navy graduated its first aeroplane pilots at the Royal Aero Club flying ground at RAF Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey under the tutelage of pioneer aviator George Bertram Cockburn. During the Second World War, the FAA operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navy's shore establishments and facilities.īritish naval flying started in 1909, with the construction of an airship for naval duties. The FAA did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939. The RAF was formed by the 1918 merger of the RN's Royal Naval Air Service with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps. The Fleet Air Arm was formed in 1924 as an organisational unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF), which was then operating the aircraft embarked on RN ships. It operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike and the AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin for commando and anti-submarine warfare. As of 2023 it is a predominantly "rotary" force, with helicopters undertaking roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish. The Fleet Air Arm ( FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN).
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