The Joint Aviation Command (JAC), previously known as Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of all three services of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

and

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

s of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

for command and coordination purposes. The majority of the United Kingdom's military helicopters come under JAC, although exceptions include the Royal Navy's anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and airborne early warning helicopters and the No. 1 Flying Training School.

History

Background

Over the years, the grouping of all battlefield support helicopters operated by the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

(FAA), Army Air Corps (AAC) and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) into one of the services had been discussed, however the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MOD) believed that any advantages would be outweighed by the damaging impact such a re-organisation would have on ethos, morale and operational effectiveness. The Strategic Defence Review (SDR), published by the MOD in July 1998, announced that a Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) would be formed, which would deliver training, standards, doctrinal development and support for operations in order to maximise the availability of battlefield helicopters and reinforce their growing importance in military operations. JHC would be a tri-Service organisation, with personnel remaining part of their parent service. The formation of JHC was considered by the MOD as one of the most important initiatives to result from the SDR. The command was expected to draw on the equipment, personnel and expertise of the single services and be charged with providing the Joint Force Commander tailored packages of battlefield helicopters (from one or more service), support equipment and personnel, to meet operational requirements. The MOD's intention was to provide a single focus for the transfer of best practice from service to service and for removing, over time, differences in extant operating procedures. A Joint Helicopter Command Study Team was established to determine how JHC should operate. Four options for the location of JHC Headquarters were also examined, with RNAS Yeovilton in

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, AAC Netheravon in

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, HQ Land Command at

Erskine Barracks Erskine Barracks was a military installation at Fugglestone St Peter, in Wilton, Wiltshire, Wilton parish some northwest of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. History The site, which had been farmland until used for temporary army buildings durin ...

in Wiltshire and RAF Benson in

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, being considered for the role.

Establishment

Joint Helicopter Command was formed on 5 October 1999, bringing together the FAA's commando helicopters, the Army's attack and light utility helicopters, and the RAF's support helicopters. The FAA's anti-surface warfare,

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

and airborne early warning helicopters, and FAA and RAF search and rescue helicopters were not included in JHC and remained under the control of the respective services. JHC Headquarters was established alongside HQ Land Command at Erskine Barracks, with Air-Vice Marshal David Niven being the inaugural commander. In 2007, JHC had over 15,000 personnel under its command, some 8,000 of who were part of 16 Air Assault Brigade This included over 900 volunteer reserves from the Territorial Army and Royal Auxiliary Air Force, and 380 MOD civilians. Joint Helicopter Command's largest operation to date has been Operation Telic, the invasion of Iraq. Following the invasion, Joint Helicopter Command maintained units in Iraq, in support of British and coalition forces deployed there. Another detachment was also maintained in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, as part of Operation Herrick. In 2024, Joint Helicopter Command evolved into Joint Aviation Command with the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicle operations into the command.

Joint Helicopter Force (Northern Ireland)

The JHC operation in Northern Ireland in support of the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

and military units as part of Operation Banner and later Operation Helvetic was named the Joint Helicopter Force Northern Ireland (JHF(NI)). JHF(NI) consisted of the following units based at Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove: * 5 Regiment ** No. 655 Squadron – Westland Lynx AH1 ** No. 665 Squadron – Gazelle AH1 ** Reconnaissance, Intelligence and Geographic Centre (Northern Ireland) * No. 230 Squadron – Westland Puma HC1

Joint Helicopter Force (Iraq)

The JHC operation in Iraq as part of Operation Telic was named Joint Helicopter Force Iraq (JHF(I)). The following aircraft types served with JHF(I): JHC Puma 2 from RAF Benson

* Boeing Chinook HC2 * Westland Sea King HC4 * Westland Lynx AH7 and AH9 * Westland Gazelle AH1 * Westland Puma HC1 * Westland Merlin HC3

Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan)

The JHC operation in Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick was named Joint Helicopter Force Afghanistan (JHF(A)) "Task Force Jaguar". The following aircraft types served with JHF(A): Apache firing rockets

* AgustaWestland Apache AH1 * Boeing Chinook HC2 * Westland Lynx AH7, AH9 and AH9A * Westland Merlin HC3 * Westland Puma HC1 * Westland Sea King HC4+ and ASaC7

Structure

JAC is part of Army Headquarters and has its headquarters at the British Army's Marlborough Lines, Andover in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Formations from each service under Joint Aviation Command include:

British Army

Army Air Corps * Army Aviation Centre (AACen) ( Middle Wallop) ** 2 (Training) Regiment – Ground crew training *** No. 668 (Training) Squadron *** No. 676 Squadron ** 7 (Training) Regiment – Flight crew training *** No. 670 Squadron ( RAF Shawbury) *** No. 671 Squadron *** No. 673 Squadron – Boeing AH-64E Apache * 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team ** 1 Regiment ( RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron)) *** No. 652 Squadron – AgustaWestland Wildcat AH1 *** No. 659 Squadron – Wildcat AH1 *** No. 661 Squadron – Wildcat AH1 ** 3 Regiment ( Wattisham Flying Station) *** No. 653 Squadron – Boeing AH-64E Apache *** No. 662 Squadron – AH-64E Apache *** No. 663 Squadron – AH-64E Apache ** 4 Regiment (Wattisham Flying Station) *** No. 656 Squadron – AH-64E Apache *** No. 664 Squadron – AH-64E Apache ** 5 Regiment ( Middle Wallop Flying Station) *** No. 665 Squadron ** 6 Regiment (Middle Wallop Flying Station) ***No. 675 (The Rifles) Squadron ***No. 677 (Suffolk and Norfolk Yeomanry) Squadron *** No. 679 (The Duke of Connaught's) Squadron ** 7 Aviation Support Battalion,

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

(REME) (Wattisham Flying Station)

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

* 47th Regiment Royal Artillery ( Horne Barracks, Larkhill) ** 10 (Assaye) Battery – Thales Watchkeeper WK450 ** 31 (Headquarters) Battery ** 43 Battery (Lloyd's Company) – Watchkeeper WK450 ** 74 Battery (The Battle Axe Company) – Watchkeeper WK450 ** 57 Battery (Bhurtpore) - Watchkeeper WK450 * 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery ( Roberts Barracks, Larkhill) ** 46 (Talavera) Headquarters Battery ** 18 (Quebec 1759) Battery – Miniature Unmanned Aerial Systems ** 21 (Gibraltar 1779–83) Air Assault Battery – Miniature Unmanned Aerial Systems ** 22 (Gibraltar 1779–83) Battery – Miniature Unmanned Aerial Systems ** 42 (Alem Hamza) Battery – Miniature Unmanned Aerial Systems

Royal Navy

* Commando Helicopter Force ( RNAS Yeovilton) ** 845 Naval Air Squadron – Merlin HC4 ** 846 Naval Air Squadron – Merlin HC4/4A ** 847 Naval Air Squadron – Wildcat AH1

Royal Air Force

* Support Helicopter Force ** No. 7 Squadron ( RAF Odiham) – Chinook ** No. 18 Squadron ( RAF Odiham) – Chinook ** No. 22 Squadron (JAC Operational Evaluation Unit) ( RAF Benson) ** No. 27 Squadron ( RAF Odiham) – Chinook ** No. 28 Squadron ( Operational Conversion Unit) (RAF Benson) – Chinook HC4 ** No. 33 Squadron ( RAF Benson) – ** No. 230 Squadron (Medicina Lines, British Forces Brunei) – ** Joint Helicopter Support Squadron (RAF Benson) ** Tactical Supply Wing RAF ( MOD Stafford)

Senior Commanders

The organisation is commanded by a two-star officer from either the Royal Navy, British Army or Royal Air Force. Commander Joint Helicopter Command has been held by: *1999 – 2002 Air Vice-Marshal David Niven *2002 – 2005 Air Vice-Marshal Paul Luker *2005 – 2008 Major General Gary Coward *2008 – 2011

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Tony Johnstone-Burt *2011 – 2014 Air Vice-Marshal Carl Dixon *2014 – 2017 Major General Richard Felton *2017 – 2020

Jonathan Pentreath *2020 – 2023 Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Colman *2023 – present Air Vice-Marshal Alastair Smith

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *{{OGL-attribution, version=3.0, {{cite report, author=Ministry of Defence, author-link=Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), title=Strategic Defence Review, publisher=Stationery Office, location=London, date=July 1998, oclc=606985144, url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/65F3D7AC-4340-4119-93A2-20825848E50E/0/sdr1998_complete.pdf, archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018172816/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/65F3D7AC-4340-4119-93A2-20825848E50E/0/sdr1998_complete.pdf, url-status=dead, archive-date=18 October 2012, access-date=21 April 2019

External links

Official website not updated since 2014Joint Helicopter Command – British ArmyJoint Helicopter Command – Royal Navy
British military aviation Helicopter units and formations Joint military units and formations of the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1999 Organisations based in Hampshire 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom