No. 1435 Flight Royal Air Force | |
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Active | 4 Dec 1941 – Jun 1942 15 Jul 1942 – 2 Aug 1942 late 1983 – May 1985 1 Nov 1988 – present[1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Allegiance | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Type | independent aircraft flight |
Role | air defence |
Size | four fixed-wing fighter aircraft |
Part of | British Forces South Atlantic Islands |
Home station | RAF Mount Pleasant |
Motto(s) | Protect the Right |
Aircraft | Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 or Tranche 1[2] |
Insignia | |
Flight tail and nose badges | |
Flight aircraft codes | F, H, C and D |
No. 1435 Flight Royal Air Force, commonly abbreviated 1435 Flt, is an independent aircraft flight of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Currently operating the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 (tranche 1), it is based at RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands. Its role is to provide air defence for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Four aircraft are permanently based in the islands, whilst their pilots and groundcrew are cycled through No. 1435 Flight from the various Typhoon squadrons in the United Kingdom, providing a 24-hour, 365-day quick reaction alert (QRA) role.
During the Second World War, No. 1435 Flight was a night fighter (NF) unit based at Malta, subsequently raised to squadron status, becoming the only RAF flying squadron to be given a four-digit number.[3][4]