The Future for 750 NAS

History

The 750 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) observer school was formed on the 24^th May 1939 and moved to its home of Royal Navy Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose on the 30^th November 1953 but this was not going to be permanent at this time. The Squadron moved overseas in 1959 when the squadron relocated to RNAS Hal Far in Malta during October, where De Havilland Sea Venoms flew alongside the Percival Sea Prince T.1s. The squadron returned to the UK in June 1965 when the Sqn arrived at RNAS Lossiemouth. The final move was to Cornwall and back to RNAS Culdrose reequipping with Jetstream T.2s in October 1978.

The Jetstream T Mk.2 was used by the Royal Navy (RN) was a radar equipped version of the Series 200 Jetstream designed by Handley Page and built by Scottish Aviation Ltd.

The aircraft was powered by two Turbomeca Astazou 16 D turbo-prop engines each driving constant speed, variable pitch Hamilton Standard propellers. These gave the Jetstream a maximum speed of 215 knots at sea level and 180 knots at its ceiling of 25,000 ft.

The minimum crew was one pilot and an observer but there was a third crew seat in the cockpit and two radar/navigation consoles on the right-hand side of the cabin. Three additional seats were also provided in the normal training role. The aircraft could fly up to 4 hours with a 1000-mile range. The Royal Navy had thirteen Jetstream’s on strength and used to operate three waves of nine aircraft in the days training programme.

Visiting RNAS Culdrose we had the opportunity to speak to the commanding officer for 750 Naval Air Squadron Lieutenant Commander Phil Clark, about the role of 750 NAS in the present day and what the future holds for this essential training squadron.

“The role of 750 NAS is to provide mission aircrew across the RN and Royal Air Force (RAF), rear crew, Royal Navy (RN) Observers and Weapon System Officers (WSO) for the RAF, though not all RAF WSO’s train with 750 NAS but we provide subset of training whilst the other training is provided at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire”

“Our Royal Navy and Royal Air Force trainees have overlapping but differing training requirements, so we tailor their courses to meet their needs.”

The main RN training is to supply the Observers and aircrew for the helicopter fleet including for the three Merlin NASs (814, 820, 824) and RNAS Culdrose and the three Wildcat NASs (815, 825, 847) at RNAS Yeovilton. The courses are: -

1. Merlin Mk2 ASW Observer

2. Merlin Mk2 ASW Aircrewman

3. Merlin Mk2 ASaC Observer (different to ASW)

4. Wildcat Mk2 Observer

the rest are Weapon System Officers, Weapon System Operators, and air traffic and weapons controllers (known as NAV) for:

5. RC135 Air Seeker

6. MQ-9A Protector

7. Shadow R.1

8. Poseidon MRA.1

The basic pathway is laid out below for both the Royal Navy Observers and Royal Air Force WSOs: -

Royal Navy Observers - Over the Basic Flying Training (BFT) course of 6 months they complete phases in Reversionary Navigation (no GPS or Inertial Navigation System), System Navigation (no GPS), a UK and Continental Navigation Trainer, Sensor Operations (maritime operations inc landing profiles to ships, search and rescue) and Multi Task (dynamic airborne re-tasking to new events) with an emphasis on Captaincy. Royal Air Force WSOs - The WSO Lead-In Course (WSOLIC) takes 3 months and, whilst it has commonality with the BFT course, it has a different focus as WSOs won’t operate from ships and will operate as part of larger crews across land and maritime environments. Trainee WSOs complete phases in Navigation (full suite of navigation aids available), Maritime (maritime operations and search and rescue), ISTAR (combined land and maritime intelligence gathering and threat based scenarios) and Final Air Tests (dynamic airborne re-tasking to new events) with an emphasis on Mission Command. Both courses are designed to develop tomorrow’s battle winning aircrew from individuals who know little about aviation into those ready to progress to their next stage of training on their Operational Conversion Units (OCUs) for their Front Line aircraft: the Merlin Mk2 or Wildcat HMA2 advanced maritime helicopters for the Observers, and the cutting-edge Poseidon or Rivet Joint ISTAR aircraft for the WSOs. Source Royal Navy

750 NAS is run with the involvement of six different military and commercial organisations which come under the one umbrella of 750 NAS. These are the Royal Navy, Ascent Flight Training, Draken Engineering, Babcock International, Lockheed Martin (LM) and CAE UK.

UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) training service provider from within 750 NAS is Ascent Flight Training. “Ascent is responsible for meeting the military requirement output for the trainees. Now because 750 NAS sits under 22 group, which is an RAF organisation, which oversees the UKMFTS, Ascent is responsible, contractedly to deliver the right number of people to the RN and RAF in any given year to give accountability to the industry to ensure the continued output.”

The Royal Navy and Ascent are the two main entities of 750 NAS and Lt Cdr Clark explained, “The way that works is that the squadron is run equally between myself, as the Commanding Officer and the General Manager of Ascent Flight Training. We sit level with each other managing the day-to-day operations at the NAS. There aren’t decisions being made that don’t have full co-ordination between the two offices, as it should be as they are trying to run a business, and they are on contract to deliver people on time.” Lt. Cdr. Clark continues “Our vested interest is to ensure that the trainees, that are passing out, are of the agreed quality and continue to be delivered to the RN and the RAF in the correct timeline.”

Subcontracted to Ascent is Draken Engineering who have 16 personnel that maintain the four Beechcraft Avenger T.1 aircraft. Draken is there to ensure that there are aircraft available on the flight line for the daily missions. In addition to the day-to-day management of the airframes Draken are also completing the modifications to the aircraft including the new radar camera and other systems. Lt Comm Clark said that “Lockheed Martin are the provider for the new mission kit for the back of the aircraft, with Draken fitting the Osprey 30 AESA radar and new MX15 EOIR Wescam HD Camera, which is the standard camera that is on the Wildcat.”

Draken also subcontracts out to Babcock who look after the general maintenance of the buildings and hangers and the 750 NAS site, doing this on behalf of Ascent.

The fifth and sixth elements of 750 NAS are Lockheed Martin and CAE UK, who own and run the training simulator. This current simulator is due to be out of service by summer 2025, after which Lockheed Martin will own and run the new simulator suite. “The reason for the change is that while Lockheed Martin owned the old simulator it is subcontracted to CAE UK to run the sim, as they are the experts in this area. Lockheed Martin have increased their knowledge, over the years, on simulators, so they are going to run their own simulators, with the new one, which is due to arrive in the coming months and be up and running in late 2025.”

In addition, “There is one civil servant who works on site, and they provide the staff office function for the military side of 750 NAS, including the HR side for the NAS, but also works with the Ascent side of the Squadron, to ensure that the collaborative working all runs smoothly. It doesn’t work to have a hard line between the military and Ascent.”

Lt Cdr Clark continued “there is a good working relationship between all partners otherwise the work could grind to a halt. There is incredible synergy, seeing ourselves as 750 NAS, and not individual entities, and that is something I’m very proud of and ensure that everyone knows whomever they work for they are representing the squadron.”

“The Squadron is in transition for the future now, as we are modifying the aircraft. It’s very difficult to keep a full complement of staff employed once two of the Avengers are unavailable, as we have the modifications completed. Over the last year 750 NAS has been in a managed decline, if a staff member has left, they have not been replaced necessarily, unless it has been a specific role, to seek to replace them in a year’s time when the squadron is back up and running again. The squadron has worked extremely hard to ensure that there has not been a drop in output which is testament to the dedication and professionalism of 750 NAS.”

Into the future

The Royal Navy press release gives an overview of the investment and future output from RNAS Culdrose: -

In a boost for the UK economy, DE&S has awarded a £300m contract to Ascent Flight Training to significantly improve flying training, preparing RAF and Navy trainees for the demands of modern worldwide operating environments, and investing in local communities in Cornwall, Lincolnshire and Bristol. 

Around 68 highly skilled workers will be hired or retained for the duration of the eight-year contract up to 2033 and £180m spent in the British supply chain. 

Using new state-of-the-art realistic synthetic and simulated environments, the Future ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) and Rear Crew Training System (FIRCTS) programme will train rear crew personnel at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose and Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell, in a safe, cost-effective manner that reduces both flying hours and carbon footprint. 

In addition to the new training facilities and equipment at RNAS Culdrose and RAF Cranwell. courseware development will take place in Bristol. 

Transitioning from Rear Crew training (RCS1), the new technology reflects a considerable investment in infrastructure as part of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS). 

The new capability will equip 140 RAF and Navy trainees a year with the skills to operate a large variety of aircraft such as Merlin Mk2 and Wildcat helicopters, RAF P-8 Poseidon, Rivet Joint, and RPAS, such as the Protector RG Mk1. 

DE&S has worked hard to bring next generation training for aircrew to life, providing enhanced capabilities that strengthen national security and growth. 

Captain Polly Hatchard, UKMFTS Team Leader, said: 

“This new flight training contract is a significant step forward for the UK’s Defence capabilities, ensuring that armed forces personnel have access to world-class training resources. The contract reinforces our commitment to providing the highest level of readiness and operational effectiveness whilst creating new jobs across the UK and investing in regional economies.” 

The RAF Directorate of Flying Training has worked closely with the other stakeholders from the UKMFTS Enterprise to help set the requirements for the FIRCTS programme.  

Air Commodore Rob Caine, Head of Flying Training, said:  

“The introduction of the Future ISTAR and Rear Crew Training System will ensure that we can safely deliver world-class personnel to the front-line to operate in vital roles on our latest aircraft platforms including Poseidon, Rivet Joint and Wedgetail. The investment in the latest training technology and infrastructure at RNAS Culdrose and RAF Cranwell will help us to prepare aircrew to be ready to Fly, Fight and Win in an uncertain world.”  

Ascent continues to build on its success with previous UK MOD contracts and to work closely with the FIRCTS contract’s key suppliers Lockheed Martin, Babcock and Draken. 

Ascent MD, Tim James said:  

“We are so proud to once again be trusted by our UK MOD customers to deliver this innovative training solution across our operations sites in Cornwall and Lincolnshire, directly benefiting our local communities and delivering a critical capability for the UK Armed Forces.” 

The first new course at RNAS Culdrose is due in March 2026. From now until that date the aircrew and instructors will transition to the new syllabus creating the new course to be delivered. “From March 2026 we start to grow the trainee output, with initially it being RN observers and WSOs under an interim contract before FIRCTS comes in in June 2026. There will be a three-month sustainment programme before pushing out the new course,” said Lt Cdr Clark,

With a growth in output, the fleet of aircraft would be expected to expand but “it won’t. One of our challenges will be to increase the through put of trainees without extra aircraft. This will be achieved through the balance of synthetic and live training. The expansion and growth in training is mainly for the RAF with the RN numbers only increasing slightly, with acoustics training being the addition to the RN numbers.” Without the increase in aircraft this will mean that the simulator will be used more heavily, especially by RAF trainees which will have fewer flights in the Avengers. Communications with the Air Traffic Control at RNAS Culdrose, to extend the operating hours, could allow for up to eight 2-hour flights to be completed on a daily cycle.

The two new mission simulators will have four different stations which can all be run individually or linked to allow training by a single instructor. These medium fidelity simulators give some feeling of being aboard an aircraft without the vibrations and movement. The simulators allow the trainees to learn the anthropometrics of how far you need to reach for controls and how tactile, including touchscreen, the controls are, as it will all be as in the actual aircraft.

There will also be additional simulator terminals for Anti-Submarine Warfare training for trainees heading to the RAF Poseidon’s and RN Merlin’s. These separate terminals ensure that there isn’t an issue with classification on the simulators being used by the Observer trainees.

“When FIRCTS is underway 750 NAS will grow into a squadron that is more heavily RAF in the military numbers. However, the best way of putting it is that the prestige course or certainly the most difficult course to pass, the one which will have the highest level of complexity, the longest and put our trainees through the most, will still be the Royal Navy Observer course. This is because of the demands from the front-line rotary squadrons and how we use Observers differently from the RAF, in that an Observer will often be not only the mission commander but also the aircraft commander. Whereas the RAF have a different ethos about how they use their aircrew giving them a different level of responsibility and accountability. This is why the courses are different lengths, RAF 3 months and RN 6 months.”

The Observer

Becoming a Royal Navy Observer is a challenging course as we discovered when speaking to Sub Lieutenant Lily Chubb, a trainee observer who has just passed the course at 750 NAS. Sub Lt Chubb started on the course in November 2024 with four other trainees and passed out end of April 2025.

After attending Officer training at Dartmouth, further training was completed at RAF Shawbury, which is secondary roles training, also at RAF Valley, which is learning SAR, winching and operations within a helicopter. The change when moving to 750 NAS is being on a fixed wing aircraft where the training is very heads in and focusing on the instruments and the radar screen.

Sub Lt Chubb said, this “is a hard course and should be hard, as the role is extremely intense and challenging but there is staged progression with different phases throughout the course. We start with navigation using charts and basic principles and its obviously the first time we are in the aircraft itself, so it’s about getting used to the airmanship working with the pilots and Crew Resource Management (CRM) including safety, airspace and anything to do with aviation. We then build up and end with the multitask phases where we focus on captaincy and decision making. We are given scenarios over the land and the sea to basically use everything we have been taught by the instructors to put it all together to achieve the mission.”

The stages of learning are ground schooling then moving to the simulator putting in to practice the new learnings and add to the previous skills, before completing the learnings airborne. In addition, there are many hours spent outside of the teachings studying and discussing with the other course trainees. There are not set instructors or pilots assigned to the individual trainees and these change throughout the course, with the instructor say less and less to the pilot and the trainee towards the end of the course.

In relation to the challenges for the trainee there are “Two VHF, two UHF and an HF radio. You can select on what you listen to and what you transmit, scanning radios and frequencies to monitor traffic in the area and listen for your call sign, but delegation of the various radios to the other persons aboard, is part of aircraft captaincy.”

Lt Com Clark said “when you’re focused the first thing that will go is your hearing. In time with the radio blaring in your ear, your capacity to listen to the radio and take the information you need from it, communicate the information all whilst completing your role at the same time. In addition doing some decision making, planning and talking to your own crew in the aircraft about how you’re going to achieve the mission.”

“As your capacity and skills grow then it becomes easier to listen out for information and it’s then about prioritisation, because at the start I wouldn’t prioritise the radios because I was thinking about what I was doing with navigation or the radar, but in the end, it becomes part of the normal workload” stated Sub Lt. Chubb.

What’s next? “I’m on holdover now and then I’ll be writing streaming letters with my preference and will get streamed to either Merlin or Wildcat. I’d like to head to the Wildcat.” This will then be a further 18 months of training on the Operational Conversion Unit, where then after she will be awarded with her wings.

Lieutenant Commander Jason Flintham, a staff pilot on 750 NAS gave an insight into the pilot’s role in the training of the Observers.

Lt Cdr Flintham started his career flying the iconic Sea Harrier FRS.2 before instructing jointly with the RAF on the Shorts Tucano at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Continuing with instructing he went on to the OCU with the Sea Harrier and finally time on the Hawk with 736 NAS at RNAS Culdrose. After fast jets it was back to instructing with the Grob Tutor at RNAS Yeovilton and from January 2025 Lt Cdr Flintham has been one of three military pilots flying the Avenger for 750 NAS. The other pilots on 750 NAS are employed by Ascent.

“We are non-instructors, and the role of the pilot is to fly around the Avenger under the direction of the Pseudo Captain, which is the trainee. The trainee deals with the scenario/mission that is presented to them by the instructors, but they are also being monitored on how they interact with the pilot, to make sure there is good CRM. But even as a non-instructor we are intrinsically involved in the training of the observer.”

Thank you to Lt Com Clark, Sub Lt Chubb, Lt Com Flintham and Mr G. Wilkinson, DIO PR, for their time and giving Airspeed Media the opportunity to visit 750 NAS at RNAS Culdrose.