The iconic Dambusters squadron is to be disbanded next year and reformed in 2016 to fly the RAF's new Lightning II fighters.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, said that 617 Squadron would disband on April 1 2014 as part of the planned drawdown of the Tornado GR4 force.

It will then reform in 2016, taking delivery of the "highly advanced" Lightning II fighter. It will be the first squadron to use the RAF's newest Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

Sir Stephen said: "I am delighted to announce that 617 Squadron's outstanding contribution to the United Kingdom's air power - past and present - will unequivocally continue when it reforms as the UK's first operational F-35B Lightning II squadron.

"The Lightning's state-of-the-art stealth and precision target capabilities, together with the battle-proven Typhoon force, will complement each other's capabilities and set the base-line for UK Combat ISTAR2 air power as a contemporary global force for the 2020s and beyond.

"Lightning shall be operated jointly by the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm pilots, from land or from the Queen Elizabeth Class carrier.

"Overall, a hugely flexible and futuristic joint capability."

The UK's Lightning II is the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, which will give the supersonic multi-role stealth aircraft the ability to operate from land or sea.

When it reforms in 2016, 617 Squadron will have both RAF and Royal Navy personnel.

The next squadron will carry a Royal Navy squadron number but be similarly jointly manned.

Based at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, 617 Squadron is arguably the most famous squadron in the RAF.

It was created in 1943 to carry out attacks with a level of accuracy then unprecedented.

It gained its epithet The Dambusters after its first raid, for which it was initially formed, to destroy dams in the Ruhr valley in Nazi Germany.

The Squadron has twice been disbanded and reformed as it has moved from operating the Lancaster to the Vulcan to the Tornado, in a process that is usual for all RAF squadrons.

Later this year, 617 Squadron will deploy to Afghanistan for the last time as a Tornado GR4 Squadron to support NATO and Afghan troops.