The Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit (FRADU) was a unit of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

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 ...

operated by the contractor

Serco Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...

Defence and Aerospace. It was established in 1972. It was most recently equipped with 13

BAE Systems Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

T1 advanced jet trainer aircraft on lease to the

from 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 ...

, based at RNAS Culdrose in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. Two of these aircraft were permanently detached to Naval Flying Standards Flight (fixed wing) at RNAS Yeovilton where they are flown by RN pilots, but maintained by Serco engineers. FRADU provided training for the Royal Navy by conducting simulated attacks on Royal Navy ships during Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST), Airborne Early Warning (AEW) exercises, training air controllers and Helicopter Fighter Affiliation training. In June 2013, FRADU was redesignated 736 Naval Air Squadron.

History

The Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Training Unit (FRADTU) was formed in 1972 by the merger of the

Fleet Requirements Unit The Airwork Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) was a civilian-operated unit of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm managed by Airwork Services, Airwork Limited. It was established on the 1 September 1952, at Hurn Airport, operating for 20 years before m ...

(FRU) and the

Air Direction Training Unit The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

ADTU which were operated by

Airwork Services Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of VT Group plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the Royal Air Force (RAF ...

for the RN. In 1983, the contract for FRADU was offered to competitive tender; the contract was won by

Flight Refuelling Ltd Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

, Hurn. The FRADU moved from RNAS Yeovilton, its home since 1972, to RNAS Culdrose in December 1995.

Aircraft

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

, GA.11, RNAS Yeovilton, December 1972 to May 1995 *

, T.7/T.8/T.8C, RNAS Yeovilton, December 1972 to May 1995 *

, T.8M (3 reworked Hunter T.8Cs fitted with the Sea Harrier's Blue Fox radar), RNAS Yeovilton, March 1983 to December 1994 (Note: Operated by 899NAS though still maintained by FRADU's engineers). *

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

TT.18, RNAS Yeovilton, December 1972 to November 1992 * de Havilland Sea Vixen, RNAS Yeovilton, December 1972 to February 1974 *Canberra T.4, RNAS Yeovilton, December 1972 to April 1986 *Canberra T.22 (reworked Canberra PR.7), RNAS Yeovilton, November 1973 to September 1985 *

T1 advanced jet trainer, RNAS Yeovilton, April 1994-November 1995. RNAS Culdrose, December 1995-June 2013.

References

External links

Royal Navy FRADU pageFRADU Hunters
Naval aviation education * Military units and formations established in 1972 Military units and formations disestablished in 2013 {{aviation-stub