A unique formation in the Typhoon Force, RAF Coningsby-based No 12 Squadron is a joint RAF and Qatar Emiri Air Force unit charged with training Qatari pilots. It will head to the Middle East to mission before returning to the UK and re-equipping Tranche 1 jets.
When No 12 (Bomber) Squadron was disbanded as a Tornado unit, it brought to an end more than a quarterof-a-century of ‘Tonka’ operations by the unit. The February 14, 2018 – its 103rd anniversary.
The squadron had flown its final Operation Shader sortie with the Tornado GR4 in the Middle East on December 14, 2017. The same day, the Ministry of Defence announced plans to re-form No 12 Squadron (the Bomber suffix has now been dropped), which would temporarily integrate Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) pilots and ground crew to provide training and support as part of the QEAF’s purchase of 24 Typhoons. The squadron will prepare the QEAF for the standing up of its first purely Qatarioperated Typhoon squadron by 2022.
On July 24, 2018, No 12 Squadron was officially re-formed during a ceremony at Horse Guards, London, as a joint RAF/Qatari unit. By the following summer, several Typhoons had been noted operating with the unit at RAF Coningsby. In late Jun…
