No. 23 Squadron RAF

No. 23 Squadron RAF
23 Squadron badge
Active1 September 1915 – 1 April 1918 (RFC)
1 April 1918 – 31 December 1919 (RAF)
1 July 1925 – 25 September 1945
1 September 1946 – 31 October 1975
1 November 1975 – 31 October 1988
1 November 1988 – 2 October 2009
January 2021[1][2] – Present
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Motto(s)Latin: Semper Aggressus
("Always on the attack")[3]
Battle honours
Insignia
Squadron badgeAn eagle preying on a falcon. Approved by King George VI in April 1937.[4]
Squadron roundel
Squadron CodesMS Sep 1938 – Sep 1939
YP (Sep 1939 – May 1945;Sep 1946 – Apr 1951)
EA–EZ (Nov 1988–Feb 1994)

Number 23 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force responsible for 'day-to-day space operations', having been reformed in January 2021, as the first "space squadron".[5][6] Up until its disbandment in October 2009, it operated the Boeing Sentry AEW1 Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.

  1. ^ "ADS Advance - The space domain and UK security". www.adsadvance.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  2. ^ Chuter, Andrew (15 January 2020). "Former fighter pilot picked to lead British military's space command". Defense News. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  3. ^ Rawlings 1978, p. 58.
  4. ^ "23 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  5. ^ "ADS Advance - The space domain and UK security". www.adsadvance.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  6. ^ Chuter, Andrew (15 January 2020). "Former fighter pilot picked to lead British military's space command". Defense News. Retrieved 23 January 2021.