The famous 'Dambusters Squadron' will be the first RAF squadron to fly on the F-35. The 617 ° Sqn. of the Royal Air Force will be the first in the British aircraft fleet to be equipped with the multi-role fighters of the 5ª generation F-35 Lightning II in version B (STOVL, Short-Take Off and Vertical-Landing).
The No. 617, bombing squadron created during the Second World War, remained famous in history for having led the Dambusters raid: the strategic bombardment launched on the night of the 16 in May of the 1943 on the dams on the Eder, Sorpe and Möhne rivers with the aim of flooding the Ruhr industrial basin, a fundamental center of the Reich industry.
The attack was launched on bombers Avro Lancaster B Mk III modified to carry the bouncing bomb (bouncing bombs) designed by engineer Barnes Wallis. The attack caused a flood of 200million liters of water temporarily immobilizing part of the industrial complex and since then the motto of the squadron is "after me the flood". Today as yesterday the Dambusters are called to perform a special task again: the first operational missions flying on the latest jet designed by Lockheed Martin.
The 617 ° Sqn., Dissolved in the 2014 after serving in the Tornado GR4 in Afghanistan, has been reconstituted for this important task and today responds to the orders of the wing commander John Butcher, grandson of a Lancaster pilot during the Second World War.
Speaking a thought to the glorious past of the squadron he said: "I think the pilots of 'yesterday' would be very happy to see the squadron once again re-forming for such a special purpose. It remains faithful to the task entrusted to it in being at the avant-garde in the history of aeronautics; I think they would be proud of it. "
The squad that had just been reconstituted by the RAF worked closely with the staff of the US Air Force, the US Navy and the USMC to be ready to do their job in the best possible way.
(photo: Imperial World Museum / RAF)
