664 Squadron AAC
Active1969 - present
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeAttack Aviation
RoleAttack/ISTAR
Part of4 Regiment Army Air Corps
Garrison/HQWattisham Airfield
Nickname(s)the Archers
Motto(s)'Vae viso' or 'I espied it; woe betide it'
Aircraft flown
Attack helicopterAgustaWestland Apache AH.1

664 Squadron AAC is a squadron of the British Army's Army Air Corps.

History

664 Aviation Squadron AAC was formed from the air troops of the parachute battalions of 16 Parachute Brigade and based at Jersey Brow hangar at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough. In 1971 it was renamed 664 Parachute Squadron AAC. When the brigade was disbanded the Squadron reverted to being known as Squadron AAC.[1]

  • Minden | 1981-1983[2]
  • Minden | 1983-1990[3]
  • Detmold | 1990-1994[4]
  • 1994 - 2006 Dishforth
  • 2006 - present Wattisham


664 Squadron transitioned to the Apache AH.MK.1 Attack Helicopter in 2004 at Dishforth Flying Station, North Yorkshire, alongside 656 and 672 Squadrons. 664 was the first squadron to fire the Hellfire missile, during a trials in Canada. The squadron was then worked up to its first deployment on Op Herrick, Afghanistan, the second Apache unit to do so. It spent many of the next 7 years conducting operational tours to Helmand Province in Afghanistan where it was initially part of the Joint Helicopter Force (UK JHF(A)), and then from 2010 part of the UK's Joint Aviation Group based at Camp Bastion under command of the USMC Expeditionary Force, flying in direct support of conventional forces on the ground such as Task Force Helmand and the Afghan Security Forces as well as Special Forces from a number of Coalition nations. The Squadron reluctantly moved from Dishforth in 2006, to Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk, where it comes under 4 Regiment AAC. The Squadron will shortly transition to the new AH-64E Guardian in 2024, it being one of the last units to fly the legacy Longbow platform.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "664 Parachute Squadron Army Air Corps | ParaData".
  2. ↑ Watson 2005, p. 93.
  3. ↑ Watson 2005, p. 103.
  4. ↑ Watson 2005, p. 114.

Bibliography

  • Watson, G; Rinaldi, R (2005). The British Army in Germany: An Organizational History 1947-2004. Tiger Lily Publications. ISBN 0-9720296-9-9.
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