2009 – On

Three years after its disbandment as a Jaguar unit, 6 Squadron reformed at Royal Air Force Leuchars equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon on 6th September 2010, the first to do so at the Typhoon Force’s second Main Operating Base. In March the Squadron took over the duties of Northern Quick Reaction Alert from the Tornado F3 thus becoming responsible for permanently maintaining aircraft at very high readiness to defend the United Kingdom’s airspace. At a similar time, it also began to contribute to the enduring presence in the Falkland Islands. Just one month later, the Squadron was providing support to Operation ELLAMY over Libya which was the Typhoon’s first operational deployment. It is in interesting observation on the cyclical nature

of history that for 6 Squadron pilots this represented a return to the deserts of North Africa, a region that played such a defining role in our history during the Second World War.

 

On 6 June 2014, 6 Squadron moved to its new base at Royal Air Force Lossiemouth. In 2015 the Squadron was allocated to conduct Baltic Air Policing in Estonia as part of the United Kingdom’s commitment to the NATO alliance. From that point onwards, the operational tempo increased substantially as the Typhoon Force began to focus on the emerging threat of Daesh in the Levant, another commitment which echoed the Squadron’s many years of service in Mesopotamia and the Transjordan region. The Squadron deployed in 2016 and 2018, conducting Close Air Support missions during some of the most kinetic phases of operations in which the Royal Air Force has been involved since the Second World War.

Following the 2016 deployment, the Squadron’s courage and commitment was recognised in the Operational Honours List with the award of a Distinguished Service Order, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and a Distinguished Flying Cross to three of its personnel. In 2018, the Squadron also provided escort duties for a package of Tornado GR4s armed with Storm Shadow missiles attacking targets in Syria to degrade the regime’s ability to employ chemical weapons against its own people, an action for which a 6 Squadron pilot was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In the days immediately following the strikes, 6 Squadron also

stood alert ready to provide air defence to the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus against any retaliatory attack. Further detachments on Operation SHADER followed in 2019, 2021 and 2023 and there was also a deployment to Lithuania for Baltic Air Policing in 2020.

On top of these operational tasks, 6 Squadron has continued to support a wide range of high-profile defence-engagement exercises with key allies and partners around the world; including a visit to Australia for Ex PITCH BLACK in 2022. These exercises not only support and enhance the United Kingdom’s valuable defence relationships, they deliver quality training that ensures 6 Squadron remains at the cutting edge of combat air tactical employment. The Squadron now operates the latest standard of multi-role Typhoon capable of both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. In these roles it can be fitted with a formidable arsenal of up-to-date sensors and weapons that has recently been expanded to include the Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Brimstone 2 air-to-surface missile and the Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile. Since 8 November 2017, the Squadron has been operating the MacRobert Fighter – Sir Roderic.