An Operational Evaluation Unit is a type of "reserve" squadron of the

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 ...

. OEU squadrons are tasked with evaluating an aircraft's weapons, systems and performance. This is to either assist in bringing the aircraft to an operational capability, or to continually assess how to best utilize the aircraft's capability once its in service. An example of such a squadron is No. 17 Squadron of the RAF. The Squadron's role as the F-35B Operation Evaluation Unit is being tasked with introducing the JSF aircraft into service with the Royal Air Force. It is equipped with four F35Bs and currently operates from

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

in the United States.

Current OEUs

* F-35B Lightning

Joint Strike Fighter Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlan ...

** 17(R) Squadron RAF *

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

Force ** 41(R) Squadron RAF - Test and Evaluation Squadron *

ISTAR ISTAR stands for Military intelligence, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, #ISTAR, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employ ...

Force ** 56(R) Squadron RAF *Transport Force ** 206(R) Squadron RAF *

Joint Aviation Command 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 and unmanned aerial vehicles of the B ...

's Helicopter Operational Evaluation Unit ** No. 22 Squadron RAF

Previous OEUs

AgustaWestland AW101 The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requiremen ...

Merlin ** 700 Naval Air Squadron - 2000 to 2008. *Strike Attack OEU - to 2004 *F3 OEU - 1987 to 2004 *Air Guided Weapons OEU - to 2004 *Fast Jet & Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit. -2004 to 2010 *

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...

*Rotary Wing Operational Evaluation & Training Unit (RWOETU). Retitled Joint Helicopter Command OEU in 2009, and now redesignated 22 Sqn (RAF Benson).

References

{{reflist Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons Air force test units and formations

Current OEUs

Previous OEUs

See also

References