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.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article