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A flight is a small
military unit Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation' ...
within the larger structure of an air force, naval air service, or army air corps; and is usually subservient of a larger squadron. A military aircraft flight is typically composed of four aircraft, though two to six aircraft may also form an aircraft flight; along with their aircrews and ground staff. In some very specific examples, typically involving historic aircraft, a flight may contain as many as twelve aircraft, as is the case with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). In most usages, two or more flights make up a squadron. Foreign languages equivalents include '' escadrille'' (
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
), ''escuadrilla'' ( Spanish), ''esquadrilha'' ( Portuguese), ''zveno'' ( Russian), and ''Schwarm'' ( German). In the case of a non-flying, or 'ground flight', such as Mechanical Transport Flight (MTF), Supply Flight, Accounts Flight, etc; no aircraft, and a roughly equivalent number of support personnel may be utilised. The term 'flight' is also a basic unit for
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
s (ICBMs).


Origins

The use of the term 'flight' originates in England, to describe a collection of aircraft (typically four in the early days of aviation) dates back to around 1912. It has been suggested that the term was coined by technical sub-committee of the
Committee of Imperial Defence The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ''ad hoc'' part of the Government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of the Second World War. It was responsible for research, and som ...
, which was examining the British air arrangements around the same time.


Commonwealth flights


Aircraft flight

In the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF), and the other air forces of the British Commonwealth, from where much air force terminology emanated, an aircraft flight, in the first decades of air forces, was commanded by a
flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...
(FltLt), a rank equivalent to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in armies and other air forces, or a naval lieutenant. More recently, however, it has become common for a flight to be led by a squadron leader (SqnLdr); a formal rank distinct from a squadron commander; equivalent to an army
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
or naval lieutenant commander. On rare occasions, a flight may further be sub-divided into two sections, each containing two to three aircraft, which share ground staff with the other section, and are usually commanded by a flight lieutenant. The Royal Navy's (RN) Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the Army Air Corps (AAC), and other Commonwealth naval and army aviation arms also have flights. In the Fleet Air Arm, a flight could be as few as a single helicopter operating from a smaller ship.


Ground flight

A ground flight within an air force is roughly equivalent to a platoon in an army, and may be commanded by a flight lieutenant, flying officer,
pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...
, or warrant officer. These ground flights may carry out operational roles (such as air traffic control, airfield defence, or
firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...
), engineering roles (such as aircraft maintenance, ground-based mechanical engineering, or other ground systems maintenance), support roles (including medical, dental, physical training, supply and logistics, training and education, and legal units), or purely administrative roles (such as
finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
, infrastructure, or human resource management). A flight is also a basic unit of guided missiles, such as
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
s (SAMs).


American flights

The United States Air Force (USAF) has three types of flights: numbered, alphabetic, and aircraft (which may be designated by alpha-numerics or name). A numbered flight is a unit with a unique base, wing, group, or
Numbered Air Force A Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a type of organization in the United States Air Force that is subordinate to a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, major command (MAJCOM) and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squ ...
mission; such as training or finance, though not large enough to warrant designation as a squadron. Numbered flights are uncommon, and are usually only found in basic training facilities. An alphabetic flight is an operational component of a flying or ground squadron, not an independent unit; alphabetic flights within a squadron normally have identical or similar functions, and are normally designated A, B, C, and so, on within the squadron. Flights in the USAF are generally authorised to have between 20 and 100 personnel, and are normally commanded by a company-grade officer ( lieutenant or
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
), and / or a flight chief, usually a senior
non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
with the rank of master sergeant or
senior master sergeant Senior master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries. Philippines Armed forces Senior master sergeant is the second-highest attainable rank for enlisted personnel of the Philippi ...
. In USAF flying squadrons, the term flight also designates a tactical sub-unit of a squadron consisting of two or three elements (designated 'sections' in U.S. Army and U.S. Naval Aviation), with each element consisting of two or three aircraft. The flight operates under the command of a designated flight leader. In U.S. Army Aviation, the equivalent organisational level of a flight is called a 'platoon', while in U.S. Naval Aviation the flight is known as a 'division'. In Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile units of the U.S. Air Force, a flight is composed of ten unmanned launch facilities, remotely controlled by a manned
launch control center The Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center (commonly known as just the Launch Control Center or LCC) is a four-story building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, used to manage launches of launch vehicles from Kennedy Space ...
, containing two personnel. Five of these flights make up one missile squadron. The Air Force has a total of 45
ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
missile flights. Under U.S. military and FAA common usage, for air traffic control and separation purposes, a 'flight' of aircraft is simply two or more aircraft intentionally operating in close proximity to each other (typically in formation) under a designated 'flight leader', without regard to military organisational hierarchy.


French flights

An ''escadrille'' (literal translations: "squad" or "small squadron") is the label given to flights in the air forces and navies of some French-speaking countries. While the term is frequently translated into English as "squadron", an ''escadrille'' was originally a smaller unit (whereas the French ''escadron'', also translated as "squadron," in the context of aviation is a much larger unit, comparable in status to a naval squadron). The first air ''escadrilles'' were formed in France before World War I, in 1912. They were initially a loosely defined group of aircraft capable of similar tasks, in most cases not more than six aeroplanes in each. During the war, the ''escadrille'' became the basic independent unit of aviation within the French armed forces. An escadrille was a homogeneous unit, armed with a single type of aeroplane, with permanent flying and ground personnel attached, motorised transport and tent hangars. By mid-1915, the ''
Armee de l'Air The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...
'' had grown to 119 ''escadrilles'' of 10 aircraft each: 14 of fighters, 50 of bombers and the rest reconnaissance, spotter and communications units. While ''escadrilles'' initially operated independently, during the Battle of Verdun (1916), ''chasseur'' (fighter) ''escadrilles'' were formed into larger formations, for easier coordination. During World War II, French ''escadrilles'' usually fielded between 10 and 12 aircraft. Hence they were roughly equivalent to a German '' staffel'', Italian ''gruppo'' or Polish ''eskadra'' (10 aircraft in 1939). This was in contrast to air squadrons of the British Commonwealth or United States, which usually had 12–18 aircraft, divided into two to four flights. Until 1949, between one and four French ''escadrilles'' formed a '' groupe''. Since then, however, ''escadrilles'' have been subordinate to ''escadrons''. As such, ''groupes'' and ''escadrons'' are the equivalent of the German language terms '' gruppe'' and ''
geschwader This is a list of words, terms, concepts, and slogans that have been or are used by the German military. Ranks and translations of nicknames for vehicles are included. Also included are some general terms from the German language found frequently i ...
''; and the English language terms " wing" and " group" (the definitions of which also vary from one nation to another).


German flights

A ''Schwarm'' (meaning swarm) as part of a ''Staffel'' (squadron) comprises four aircraft and can be further subdivided into twoships called ''Rotte'' (meaning rout, two aircraft). The tactical formation, however, is the ''twoship with hot spare'' (the English term is used), the third aircraft being released before reaching the target if none of the others had to be sent back earlier. The ''Kette'' (meaning chain) of three aircraft is a historic term. These terms refer to groups of aircraft only and are not used for ground units.


References


External links


RAAF: Structure
— at the
Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...
website {{Portal bar, Military history, Aviation Air force units and formations