List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm

This is a list of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA).

Fleet Air Arm Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber

On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was merged with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force (RAF) which directly operated and controlled all naval aircraft. On 1 April 1924 the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force was created as a distinct component of the RAF, which existed until 24 May 1939 when command of the Fleet Air Arm was transferred back to Royal Navy control. Coastal Command patrol aircraft, including most large seaplanes, remained with the RAF despite their operations in a naval environment. Prototypes were largely under the control of the Air Ministry and not the Fleet Air Arm until their introduction into service.

Aircraft

Acronyms in table

ASW; Anti-submarine warfare

AEW; Airborne Early Warning

ECM; Electronic counter measures

EW; Electronic Warfare aircraft

Model (listed by model name)	Role	Origin	In service	Withdrawn	Notes
Fairey IIID & F	Spotter/target tug	UK	1918	1940
Avro 652	Transport	UK	1941	1942	2 impressed airliners
Fairey Albacore	Torpedo/dive bomber	UK	1940	1943
Avro Anson	Trainer/Communications	UK	1942	1955
Supermarine Attacker	Fighter/fighter-bomber	UK	1951	1957
Hawker Audax	Trainer	UK	1941	1945	4 ex-RAF
Grumman Avenger/Tarpon	Torpedo bomber/ASW/EW	US	1943	1962	Lend-lease and MDAP
British Aerospace BAe 125	VIP transport	UK	?	n/a
Blackburn Baffin	Torpedo bomber	UK	1934	1946
Martin Baltimore	Medium bomber	US	1944	1946	14 ex-RAF
Fairey Barracuda	Torpedo/dive bomber	UK	1943	1953	2,607 built
Fairey Battle	Trainer	UK	1939	1944	3 ex-RAF
Bristol Beaufighter	Torpedo bomber	UK	1943	1946
Bristol Beaufort	Torpedo bomber/trainer	UK	1943	1946
Avro Bison	Spotter	UK	1922	1929
Brewster Bermuda	Dive bomber	US	1942	1943	5 for evaluation only
Blackburn Blackburn	Spotter	UK	1923	1931
Bristol Blenheim	Trainer	UK	1941	1944	ex-RAF
Douglas Boston	Medium bomber	US	1943	1945	ex-RAF
Blackburn Buccaneer	Strike	UK	1962	1978
Brewster Buffalo	Fighter	US	1940	1941	ex-Belgian
English Electric Canberra	Trainer/target tug/drone	UK	1950s	1992
Vought-Sikorsky Chesapeake	Torpedo bomber/trainer	US	1941	1944
De Havilland Chipmunk	Trainer	UK	1965	?	ex-RAF
Curtiss Cleveland	Dive bomber	US	1940	1940	1 for evaluation only
Vought Corsair	Fighter	US	1943	1947	Lend-lease
Douglas Dakota	Transport	US	1944	1946	3 aircraft
Blackburn Dart	Torpedo bomber	UK	1922	1935	117 aircraft
Douglas Dauntless	Dive bomber	US	1944	1946	9 evaluated but not used
Eurocopter AS.365N-2 Dauphin 2	Trainer helicopter	France	1999	n/a
Boulton Paul Defiant	Target tug	UK	1943	1946	295 aircraft
De Havilland DH.86	Transport/trainer	UK	1940	1945	6 impressed/ex-RAF
De Havilland Dominie	Trainer/transport	UK	1940	1963	Some impressed
Westland Dragonfly	Air-sea rescue helicopter	UK	1951	1960	72 aircraft
Airspeed Envoy	Transport/trainer	UK	1941	1941	1 ex-RAF
Beechcraft Expeditor/Navigator	Transport	US	1943	1954	Lend-lease
Miles Falcon Six	Communications	UK	1940	1941	1 impressed
Blackburn Firebrand	Torpedo-fighter	UK	1944	1956
Fairey Firefly	Fighter/night fighter/ASW/trainer	UK	1943	1956	1702 aircraft
De Havilland Flamingo	Transport	UK	1940	1946	2 impressed
Fairey Flycatcher	Fighter	UK	1923	1934
De Havilland Fox Moth	Communications	UK	1941	1943	1 impressed
Fairey Fulmar	Fighter/night fighter	UK	1940	1945	600 aircraft
Fairey Gannet & Gannet AEW.3	ASW/AEW/transport/EW/trainer	UK	1954	1979	342 including 44 AEW
Westland Gazelle	Trainer/utility helicopter	UK	1974	2010	40 aircraft
De Havilland Gipsy Moth	Trainer	UK	1940	1943	1 impressed
Gloster Gladiator	Fighter	UK	1938	1945
Grumman Goose	Transport	US	1942	1946	Lend-lease
British Aerospace Harrier II	Strike	UK	2006	2011
Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow	Transport	UK	1942	1943	9 ex-RAF
Hawker Hart/Hart Trainer	Trainer	UK	1939	1942	8 ex-RAF
North American Harvard	Trainer	US	1943	1955
Douglas Havoc	Medium Bomber	US	1941	1943	9 ex-RAF
Hawker Siddeley Hawk	Trainer	UK	1994	n/a
Grumman Hellcat/Gannet	Fighter/night fighter	US	1943	1946	1, 182 aircraft
Curtiss Helldiver	Dive bomber	US	1943	1945	Lend-lease 26 for evaluation
Hawker Henley	Target tug	UK	1939	1944	7 ex-RAF
De Havilland Hornet Moth	Communications	UK	1939	1945	1 impressed & 4 from Canada
Vought-Sikorsky Hoverfly I	Training/rescue/utility helicopter	US	1944	1948?	24 aircraft
Vought-Sikorsky Hoverfly II	training/deck landing evaluation/liaison helicopter	US	1945	1950s
Hiller HT	Trainer/communications	US	1963	1975
Lockheed Hudson	Transport	US	1944	1945	4 ex-RAF
Hawker Hunter	Trainer/drone	UK	?	1994
Hawker Hurricane	Fighter	UK	1941	1945
BAe Jetstream	Trainer	UK	1979	2011	16 ex-RAF
Beechcraft Super King Air Avenger	Trainer	US	2011	n/a
Vought Kingfisher	Reconnaissance	US	1942	1943	Lend-lease
Avro Lancaster	Heavy bomber	UK	1945	1947	3 ex-RAF
De Havilland Leopard Moth	?	UK	1940	1946	2 impressed
Lockheed Martin Lightning	Fighter	US	2023	n/a	809 Naval Air Squadron
Westland Lynx	ASW/air-sea rescue/transport helicopter	UK	1976	n/a
Westland Lysander	Target tug	UK	1940	1944	67 ex-RAF
Miles Magister	Trainer	UK	1937	1945
Miles Martinet	Target tug	UK	1943	1947
Martin Maryland	Medium bomber/target tug	US	1940	1944	7 ex-RAF
Miles Master	Trainer	UK	1940	1948
Westland Merlin	ASW/Transport	UK	2000	n/a
Gloster Meteor	Trainer/target tug	UK	1940s	1960s?
North American Mitchell	Medium bomber	US	1943	1943	1 for evaluation only
Miles Monitor	Target tug	UK	1945	1955	ex-RAF
De Havilland Mosquito	various	UK	1944	?
De Havilland DH.60M Moth	Trainer	UK	1939	1943	6 impressed/ex-RAF
Gloster Nightjar	Fighter	UK	1920	1924
Hawker Nimrod	Fighter/utility	UK	1932	1942
Hawker Osprey	Fighter/reconnaissance	UK	1931	1940
Airspeed Oxford	Trainer	UK	1942	1954	ex-RAF
Bellanca Pacemaker	Communications	US	1939	1940	1 impressed
Parnall Panther	Spotter	UK	1919	1926
Parnall Peto	Submarine-borne reconnaissance	UK	1926	1932
Percival Petrel	Transport	UK	1939	1944	4 impressed/ex-RAF
McDonnell Douglas Phantom	Fighter/ground attack	US	1968	1978
Parnall Plover	Fighter	UK	1923	1924	Operational evaluation
Percival Proctor	Trainer	UK	1939	?
De Havilland Puss Moth	Communications	UK	1940	1943	1 impressed
De Havilland Queen Bee	Target drone	UK	1941	1946	5 examples
Miles Queen Martinet	Target drone	UK	1945	1946	3 examples
Stinson Reliant	Trainer/communications	US	1944	1946	Lend-lease
Blackburn Ripon	Torpedo bomber/reconnaissance	UK	1929	1935
Blackburn Roc	Fighter	UK	1938	1943
Supermarine Scimitar	Fighter/tanker	UK	1957	1970
Boulton Paul Sea Balliol	Trainer	UK	1952	1963
De Havilland Sea Devon	Transport	UK	1955	1981
Hawker Sea Fury	Fighter	UK	1947	1962
Gloster Sea Gladiator	Fighter/communications	UK	1939	1945
British Aerospace Sea Harrier	Fighter/reconnaissance/ground attack/trainer	UK	1979	2006
Hawker Sea Hawk	Fighter/fighter-bomber/ground attack	UK	1953	1969
de Havilland Sea Heron	Transport	UK	1961	1981	Bought second hand
de Havilland Sea Hornet	Fighter/night-fighter/reconnaissance	UK	1947	1954	198 aircraft
Hawker Sea Hurricane	Fighter	UK	1941	1944
Westland Sea King	ASW/AEW/air-sea rescue/transport	UK	1969	n/a
De Havilland Sea Mosquito	Strike/target tug	UK	1946	1950s
Supermarine Sea Otter	Air-sea rescue/reconnaissance/spotting	UK	1944	1950
Hunting Sea Prince	Trainer/transport	UK	1953	1978
de Havilland Sea Vampire	Fighter/trainer	UK	1948	1968
de Havilland Sea Venom	Fighter/electronic countermeasures	UK	1954	1961
de Havilland Sea Vixen	Fighter	UK	1958	1972
Supermarine Seafire	Fighter/reconnaissance	UK	1942	1954
Fairey Seafox	Spotting/reconnaissance	UK	1937	1943
Fairey Seal	Spotter/reconnaissance	UK	1933	1943
Curtiss Seamew	Reconnaissance	US	1944	1945	Never used operationally
Short Seamew	ASW	UK	1956	1957	Evaluation only
Blackburn Shark	Torpedo bomber/target tug	UK	1934	1944
Blackburn Skua	Fighter/dive bomber/target tug	UK	1938	1941
Douglas Skyraider	Airborne Early Warning	US	1951	1960
Supermarine Spitfire	Fighter	UK	1942	1945
Short Sturgeon	Target tug	UK	1951	1959
Fairey Swordfish	Torpedo bomber	UK	1936	1946
Grumman Tigercat	Fighter	US	1944	1945	2 for evaluation only
De Havilland Tiger Moth	Trainer/communications	UK	1939	1965	113 ex-RAF
Beech Traveller	Communications	US	1944	1946	Lend-lease
Avro Tutor	Trainer	UK	1937	1942
Grob G 115 Tutor	Trainer	Germany	2000s	n/a
Hawker Typhoon	Fighter/ground attack	UK	1943	1943	1 for evaluation only
de Havilland Vampire	Fighter/fighter-bomber	UK	1948	1950s
Percival Vega Gull	Communications	UK	1939	1945	7 impressed
Vultee Vengeance	Dive bomber/target tug	US	1944	1947	Lend-lease
Lockheed Ventura	Medium bomber	US	1942	1942	1 for evaluation only
Supermarine Walrus	Spotter/air-sea rescue/	UK	1936	1946
Westland Walrus	Spotter/reconnaissance	UK	1921	1925
Westland Wasp	ASW	UK	1963	1980
Vickers Wellington	Trainer/transport	UK	1942	1946	Ex-RAF
Westland Wessex	ASW/air-sea rescue/transport	UK	1961	1983
Sikorsky Whirlwind	ASW/transport/air-sea rescue	US	1952	1969	MDAP
Westland Whirlwind	ASW/air-sea rescue/transport	UK	1956	1977
Miles Whitney Straight	Communications	UK	1940	1943	1 impressed
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley	Trainer/transport	UK	1942	1947
Grumman Widgeon	Transport	US	1943	1946
AgustaWestland Wildcat	Attack	UK	2015	n/a	28 ordered
Grumman Wildcat/Martlet	Fighter	US	1940	1944	992 of various marks Lend-lease
Westland Wyvern	Torpedo/strike	UK	1953	1958	127 including 10 two-seat trainers
Supermarine Seafang	Fighter	UK	1946		Evaluation only

Helicopters to support the Royal Marines

Airships and balloons

UAVs and drones

Gliders

Akaflieg München Mü13 - One former Luftwaffe (1945–1957)
DFS SG 38 Schulgleiter - Three (1947–1952)
Eliotts Olympia I - One (1946–1955)
DFS Kranich I - One (1946–1960)
DFS Kranich II - One (1946–1953)
Schneider Grunau Baby - Six (1946–1952)
Slingsby Cadet - One (1946–1949)
Slingsby Prefect - One (1953–1956)

Weapons of the Fleet Air Arm

Air-to-air missiles

AMRAAM: Medium-range air-to-air missile - Carried by the Sea Harrier.
Firestreak: Air-to-air missile - Carried by the Sea Venom and Sea Vixen (retired).
Red Top: Air-to-air missile - Carried by the Sea Vixen (retired).
Sidewinder: Short-range air-to-air missiles - Carried by the Buccaneer. Phantom, Scimitar and Sea Harrier.
Sparrow: Medium-range air-to-air missile - Carried by the Phantom

Air-to-surface missiles

AS.11: air-to-surface anti-tank, anti-ship missile. Carried by the Wessex and Wasp helicopter (retired).
AS.12: Air-to-surface anti-ship missile. Carried by the Wasp and Wessex helicopters (retired).
Bullpup: Air-to-surface missile - Carried by the Scimitar and Sea Vixen (retired).
Lightweight Multirole Missile
Martel - Carried by the Buccaneer and Sea Harrier.
Sea Eagle: Anti-ship missile, carried by the Buccaneer and Sea Harrier.
Sea Skua: Anti-ship missile, normally carried by the Lynx.
Sea Venom: Anti-ship missile, on order for use on the Wildcat.

Nuclear weapons 1950 to 2000

Red Beard nuclear bomb - Carried by the Buccaneer, Scimitar and Sea Vixen.
WE.177 nuclear bomb - Carried by the Buccaneer, Sea Harrier and Sea Vixen.
- WE.177 nuclear depth charge - Carried by the Westland Lynx, Wasp and Wessex helicopters.

Unguided rockets

SNEB - 68-mm (2.7-inch) air-to-surface rocket. Carried by the Buccaneer, Phantom, Sea Harrier and Sea Vixen.
RP-3 - 3-inch (76-mm) air-to-surface rocket. Carried by the Attacker. Firefly, Scimitar, Sea Fury, Sea Hawk, Sea Hurricane, Sea Vixen, Swordfish, Tarpon/Avenger.

Torpedoes

18" Mark 30 torpedo - Carried by the Fairey Gannet and Westland Whirlwind helicopter.
British 18 inch torpedo - Carried by the Blackburn Firebrand.
Mark 24 mine
Mark 43 torpedo
Mark 44 torpedo - Carried by the Westland Sea king, Wasp, Wessex and Whirlwind helicopters.
Mark 46 torpedo - Carried by the Westland Lynx, Sea King, Wasp, Wessex and Whirlwind helicopters.
Sting Ray torpedo - Carried by the Westland Lynx and Sea King helicopters.

Free fall bombs

BL755

External links

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