201 Squadron "''Falcões''" (''Esquadra 201'') is a fighter squadron of the

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

, operating the

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

Roles and missions

201 Sqn has as its primary mission the execution of air defense operations and conventional attack: * Air defense operations; * Offensive air operations, with the exception of suppression of enemy air defenses (

SEAD Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD ), also known in the United States as "Wild Weasel" and (initially) "Iron Hand" operations, are military actions to suppress enemy surface-based air defenses, including surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), ant ...

); * Anti-surface operations (ASFAO), to include aerial interdiction (AI), close air support (CAS),

anti-surface warfare Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's ...

(ASuW) with the exception of

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 ...

(ASW).

History

The origins of 201 Squadron "Falcões" date back to the creation of 50 Squadron "''Falcões''" (Falcons) in 1958, based at

Ota Ōta, Ota, or Ohta may refer to the following: People * Ota (wife of Arnulf of Carinthia), Queen of the East Franks 888-899, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire 896-899 * Ota (cartoonist), Brazilian cartoonist * Atsuya Ota, Japanese basketball p ...

(then designated Air Base No. 2), operating the

F-86F Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

. On September 11, 1958, the squadron's designation was changed to 51 Squadron and it was later transferred to Air Base No. 5, in

Monte Real Monte Real is a town (''vila'' in Portuguese) and a former Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish in the municipality of Leiria, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Monte Real e Carvide. It covers an area of 12.23 km2 and ha ...

, on October 4, 1959. The squadron became part of 501st Operational Group. The first F-86F flight by a Portuguese pilot took place on September 22, 1958, by 50 Squadron. Two days later, on September 24, a F-86F breaks for the first time the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

in Portugal. In the beginning of the 1960s, the flight demonstration team "''Dragões''" (Dragons) was reactivated with the F-86F as part of 51 Squadron. On August 15, 1961, a detachment of eight F-86F fighters was deployed to

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

until October 1964, in what was called Operation Atlas (), during which they flew 577 sorties, of which 430 were ground-attack missions. From 1961 to 1970 51 Squadron also operated five T-33 AN Silver Star aircraft; having also operated the Fiat G-91 R4 from November 1965 to 1974. These were used in the transition and conversion of fighter pilots from the F-86F to the G.91 that were in the Portuguese African colonies. Starting in 1977, 51 Squadron additionally operated six

T-38A Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the world's first supersonic trainer as well as the most produced. The T-38 can be tra ...

in advanced combat training, with a second batch of six T-38A aircraft being delivered and operated by 1980. Later that year all T-38 trainers were transferred to 103 Squadron, also based at Monte Real. With further reorganizations of the Air Force, the operational group of which the squadron was part of was re-designated as Operational Group 51 (), and in 1978 the squadron's own designation was changed to 201 Squadron. The F-86F Sabre ended its service in the Portuguese Air Force officially on July 31, 1980, and 201 Squadron was later disbanded on June 1, 1981. In 1981, 302 Squadron, to which the missions of tactical air support for maritime operations (TASMO) and air interdiction were assigned, was activated and the squadron continued to serve with the traditions of the "''Falcões''". 201 Squadron was reactivated on October 4, 1993, with aerial defense as its mission, the first F-16 Fighting Falcon arriving in June 1994. In 1997 the squadron initiated its qualification in air-to-ground missions and in July 1998 it was attributed the primary mission of air defense operations and close air support and air interdiction as secondary missions. In 1999, the tactical air support for maritime operations (TASMO) was also assigned as one of its secondary missions. On May 26, 2011, the squadron officially started operating the upgraded F-16 MLU fighter.

Lineage

* Constituted as ''Esquadra 50'' (50 Squadron) on February 4, 1958 *:Re-designated as ''Esquadra 51'' (51 Squadron) on September 11, 1958 *:Re-designated as ''Esquadra 201'' (201 Squadron) in 1978 *:Disbanded on June 1, 1981 * Reactivated as ''Esquadra 201'' (201 Squadron) on October 4, 1993

Aircraft

* F-86 Sabre F (1958–1980) * Five T-33 Silver Star AN (1961–1970) * Fiat G-91 R4 (1965–1974) * T-38 Talon A (1977–1980) * F-16 Fighting Falcon A (1994–2010) * F-16 Fighting Falcon M (2010–Present)

Notable pilots

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

António Roque: first Portuguese pilot to reach 1000 flight hours in F-16s (1999)

Deployments

Operation Allied Force The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

(the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia) (March 23, 1999 – June 10, 1999)
201 Squadron was deployed to Italy with a detachment of three F-16s. Since these aircraft were not converted to MLU standards, they were restricted to combat air patrol (CAP) missions during the conflict. *

Exercise Red Flag Exercise Red Flag (also Red Flag – Nellis) is a two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise held several times a year by the United States Air Force (USAF). It aims to offer realistic air-combat training for military pilots and other ...

(2000)
The Portuguese detachment consisted of six F-16s. * Operation Baltic Air Policing (November 1, 2007 – December 15, 2007)
201 Squadron participated in patrolling the skies of the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

(

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

) with four F-16 A Block 15 along with two F-16 AM of 301 Squadron.

References

External links

201 Squadron
information at the Portuguese Air Force official website
201 Squadron
official website
Website produced by the 201 Pilots

Unofficial website dedicated to 201 Squadron
{{in lang, pt
PoAF participation in the Baltic Air Policing '07
Portuguese Air Force official website dedicated to the operation

squadron information at F-16.net Portuguese Air Force aircraft squadrons Military units and formations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Portugal Military of Portugal