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 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 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 serv ...

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 Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose) ...

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 Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

(AEW) exercises, training air controllers and Helicopter Fighter Affiliation training. In June 2013, FRADU was redesignated

736 Naval Air Squadron 736 Naval Air Squadron (736 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy. It was most recently recommissioned at RNAS Culdrose on 6 June 2013 to fly the BAE Systems Hawk T1, following the disbandment of the Fleet Requirements and Aircraft Di ...

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 Limited. It was established on the 1 September 1952, at Hurn Airport, operating for 20 years before merging with anoth ...

(FRU) and the Air Direction Training Unit ADTU which were operated by Airwork Services 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 ca ...

Hurn Hurn is a village and civil parish in the historic county of Hampshire and the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. Situated between the River Stour and River Avon, administratively Hurn is part of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary ...

. 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 The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/ vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered servic ...

'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 The de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen is a British twin-engine, twin boom-tailed, two-seat, carrier-based fleet air-defence fighter flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the 1950s through to the early 1970s. The Sea Vixen was designed by ...

, 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 * BAE Systems Hawk 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