First World War No. 216 Squadron's beginnings can be traced back to August 1917 when
No. 7 Squadron of the
Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) sent a detachment of four
Handley Page O/100 to
Redcar in order to fly anti-submarine missions. Moving to
Manston in October, the unit was re-designated as 'A' Squadron. At the end of October, 'A' Squadron was deployed to
Ochey,
France, joining
No. 41 Wing as a strategic night bomber squadron. On 8 January 1918, 'A' Squadron was re-designated as No. 16 Squadron (RNAS). On the night of 24/25 March, an aircraft from the squadron carried out an 8 and a half hour attack on
Cologne. the unit was principally a transport squadron, operating the
Vickers Type 264 Valentia,
Bristol Bombay,
de Havilland DH86,
Lockheed Hudson and
Douglas Dakota. It spent a lengthy time deployed to
Cairo from November 1942 to July 1945.
Post-War (Egypt) for the UK in 1955 In late 1949, the Dakotas were replaced by
Vickers Valettas transport aircraft; in 1955 the squadron moved to
RAF Lyneham from
RAF Fayid in Egypt to operate the
De Havilland Comet C.2 jet airliner until 27 June 1975, when No. 216 Squadron disbanded after 58 years of service. The squadron reformed at
RAF Honington on 1 July 1979 as a maritime strike squadron assigned to
Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) with twelve
Blackburn Buccaneer S.2 aircraft transferred from the
Fleet Air Arm's 809 Naval Air Squadron. These aircraft had been embarked on until flying off for the last time in November 1978 for a delivery flight from the carrier in the Mediterranean to
RAF St Athan. Designated Buccaneer S2A by the RAF, they were equipped with twelve
WE.177A nuclear bombs, free-falling conventional HE bombs and
Martel missiles for non-nuclear strike. However, on 7 February 1980, a
No. XV Squadron Buccaneer crashed after a wing failed in flight during the
Red Flag exercise in the USA. The resulting grounding and inspections saw the size of the Buccaneer fleet reduced, with the result that No. 216 Squadron had its assets merged with
No. 12 (Bomber) Squadron barely a year after its reformation, however the squadron was not officially disbanded.
Lockheed TriStar (1984–2014) , June 2005 Following the
Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there; this shortfall was filled initially by chartered
British Airways Boeing 747s and
Britannia Airways Boeing 767s. To address this, in December 1982 the RAF purchased six former British Airways
Lockheed TriStar 500s. The first TriStar (ZD949) was leased back to British Airways on 29 March 1983 until November, eventually undergoing conversion at
Cambridge Airport by
Marshall Aerospace in 1986. In 1984, the RAF purchased a further three TriStar 500s from
Pan-Am. No. 216 Squadron was reactivated on 1 November 1984 at
RAF Brize Norton to operate the
Lockheed TriStar. On 24 March 1986, TriStar KC.1
ZD953 became the first aircraft to be handed over to the squadron. No. 216 Squadron deployed the TriStar fleet in support of many high-profile missions including the
Gulf War (for which the aircraft received a desert paint scheme),
Operation Allied Force (Kosovo),
Operation Veritas and
Operation Herrick (Afghanistan),
Operation Telic (Iraq 2003) and
Operation Ellamy (Libya). The squadron was disbanded on 20 March 2014 at RAF Brize Norton, with the last Tristar sortie being flown on 24 March. In October 2017, it was announced that
Queen Elizabeth II had approved the award of 'Iraq 2003–2011' and 'Libya 2011' battle honours to No. 216 Squadron (without the right to emblazon).
Unmanned 'loyal wingmen' (2020–present) On 17 July 2019, at the Air & Space Power Conference, the RAF announced that No. 216 Squadron would reform to become an experimental unit that will test future
drone swarm technology. No. 216 Squadron formally stood up on 1 April 2020 at
RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. In March 2024, James Cartlidge, the minister for defence procurement, informed Parliament that notwithstanding its formation in 2020, 216 Squadron had “completed [no] tests or trials [of any drones] ... either in-house or with industry” since being reconstituted. In a large change, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
Luke Pollard answered a written parliamentary question stating that the squadron will transition from its current role as the swarming drone trials unit "to become the operational delivery squadron for an Autonomous Collaborative Platforms [ACP] capability in 2025." The ACP is also known as the 'loyal wingman' and 216 Squadron will initially be a blend of a test and evaluation and more traditional frontline squadron as the capability transitions from a research and development to an operational footing. The role of the drone trials unit will pass to
744 Naval Air Squadron as the Joint Uncrewed Air System Test and Evaluation Squadron. ==Aircraft operated==