792 Naval Air Squadron (792 NAS) was a

Naval Air Squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet Ai ...

of the Royal Navy's

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

and was originally formed at

RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture) RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture) is a former Royal Naval Air Station of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. The site is located northeast of Newquay, Cornwall and northwest of Bodmin, Cornwall, England. History RNAS St Merryn was constructed during ...

in August 1939 as an Air Target Unit, equipped with six Blackburn Skuas. The squadron disbanded in 1945 and merged with

794 Naval Air Squadron 794 Naval Air Squadron (794 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Notable people *Ronald Scott (aviator) Sub-Lieutenant Ronald David Scott (born 17 October 1917) is an Argentine Naval aviator who flew for the Roya ...

. 792 Squadron reformed at RNAS Culdrose in 1948 as a

Night Fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

Training Unit. It was initially equipped with Fairey Firefly NF.1s and

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

s. They were later replaced with Sea Hornets shortly before the squadron disbanded again in August 1950. The squadron was reformed at

RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is ser ...

in November 2001 from the Fleet Target Group from

RNAS Portland RNAS Portland (ICAO: EGDP) was an air station of the Royal Navy, situated at the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It was established in 1917 on the western edge of Portland Harbour as HMS ''Sarepta''. From 1959 the station shared the name ...

, which closed in 1998. It operated the Mirach 100/5 unmanned subsonic drones which were used to test the Sea Dart Missile System on

Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class, was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and s ...

s and Sidewinder missiles on Harrier and

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

fighters Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...

. It is not listed on the current Royal Navy website and is believed to have been replaced by QinetiQ's Combined Aerial Target Service contract.

References

;Bibliography * {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II Military of the United Kingdom in Cornwall