809 Naval Air Squadron has one of the Fleet Air Arm’s most distinctive histories. First formed during the Second World War, the squadron accumulated battle honours across several theatres before later serving with aircraft including the Buccaneer and Sea Harrier.
809 NAS was specially re-formed for the 1982 Falklands War, flying Sea Harriers from HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible. Explore our Falklands War aviation art collection for prints depicting aircraft and operations from the campaign. It was disbanded again in December 1982, bringing that chapter of the squadron’s history to a close.
More than four decades later, the Phoenix Squadron returned. On 8 December 2023, 809 Naval Air Squadron was formally re-formed at RAF Marham as the UK’s second frontline F-35B Lightning squadron.
Today, 809 NAS forms part of the UK’s joint Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Lightning Force. Its personnel operate the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B from land bases and Royal Navy aircraft carriers.
The return of 809 NAS connects generations of British naval aviation: from wartime operations and the Buccaneer era, through the Sea Harrier in the South Atlantic, to fifth-generation carrier aviation with the F-35B.
