The Royal Navy retired its last Lynx HMA8 in 2017 and now the Army Air Corps has said farewell to the Lynx AH9A. The Lynx will be sadly missed in the UK. However, the improved sensor fit and tactical system embodied in the Wildcat HMA2 are enabling the Royal Navy’s small-ship aviators to change the way they think and operate.
THE WESTLAND LYNX helicopter was a staple of British military operations for 40 years. In March 2017, the last handful of Lynx HMA8s with 815 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) took their final curtain-call in Royal Navy service. A formal decommissioning parade was held at RNAS Yeovilton on March 23 last year and a final flight, with fleet commander VADM Ben Key embarked, greeted the assault ship HMS Ocean as she returned to Devonport after a six-month deployment. The aircraft, serial ZF563/312 — the very last Lynx to roll off the Westland production line for the RN back in 1988 — arrived back at Yeovilton that night, bringing operations to an end. In January 2018, the Army Air Corps bade farewell to its remaining operational Lynx AH9As.
During a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) career that spanned just over four decades, the Lynx — in various marks — transformed smallship aviation. Fast, agile and re…
