The Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) was an air technical

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

part of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

which developed tactics and tested captured enemy aircraft. It was based at

Royal Air Force Station The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...

Northolt Northolt is a town in West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 at ...

Duxford Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area. History The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of the ...

and Wittering. The AFDU was under the control of RAF Fighter Command and the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

; the AFDU performed comparative trials, developed and promulgated tactics effective against opposing aircraft types. Also sharing Wittering with the AFDU was the Naval Air Fighting Development Unit. These units also carried out tests and evaluations on a wide range of fighter aircraft, aircraft modifications and new equipment prior to entering

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

service. The AFDU was formed as the Air Fighting Development Establishment at Northolt on 20 October 1934; being re-named the Air Fighting Development Unit in July 1940. The units were absorbed into the

Central Fighter Establishment The Central Fighter Establishment was a Royal Air Force formation that dealt with the development of fighter aircraft tactics which was formed on 4 September 1944 at RAF Wittering. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment, and with the ...

and moved to

RAF Tangmere RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...

in 1945.

Operation Banquet

Under the

Operation Banquet Operation Banquet was a British Second World War plan to use every available aircraft against a German invasion in 1940 or 1941. After the Fall of France in June 1940, the British Government made urgent anti-invasion preparations as the Royal ...

anti-invasion plans, the AFDU was allocated the title

No. 550 Squadron RAF No. 550 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Formed at RAF Waltham on 25 November 1943, 550 Squadron flew Avro Lancaster bombers as part of No. 1 Group RAF. In early 1944, the squadron was moved to ...

Air Fighting Development Squadron

The AFDU was reconstituted in the 1950s at RAF Tangmere as the Air Fighting Development Squadron (AFDS), subsequently relocating to

RAF Coltishall Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006. It was a fighter airf ...

where it operated the

BAC Lightning The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufac ...

jet fighter in its P.1B, F.1 and F.1A variants. The AFDS moved to

RAF Binbrook Royal Air Force Binbrook or RAF Binbrook was a Royal Air Force station, now closed, located near Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England. The old domestic site (married quarters) has been renamed to become the village of Brookenby. RAF Binbrook was pri ...

in October 1962, operating the F.2 and T.4 variants until the squadron was absorbed by the

(CFE).

Footnotes

References

* * Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force {{RAF-stub

Operation Banquet

Air Fighting Development Squadron

See also

Footnotes

References