#1330 A400M Atlas
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1330CU - A400M Atlas, ZM400, LXX Squadron, RAF Brize Norton. LXX Squadron formed at Farnborough on 22 April 1916. It flew Sopwith 1½ Strutters on the Western Front on fighter, reconnaissance and bombing missions and in July 1917 moved to Sopwith Camels and then Snipes. The Squadron returned to the UK in September 1919 and disbanded on 22 January 1920. It re-formed on 1 February 1920 following the renumbering of No. 58 Squadron in Egypt and flew Handley Page 0/400s and Vickers Vimys in the bomber-transport role. A move to Iraq was made in December 1921 where it re-equipped with Vernons in November 1922 and, later, Victorias and Valentias. Of note, between December 1928 and February 1929 Victorias of LXX Squadron conducted the Kabul Airlift, widely recognised as the world’s first mass evacuation by air. Back in Egypt, the Squadron received Wellingtons in September 1940 with which attacks were made on targets in Libya, Italy and Greece. Moving with the advancing army into Italy, Liberators replaced the Wellingtons in January 1945. In October 1945 it returned to the Middle East and disbanded there on 31 March 1946, reforming two weeks later with Lancasters only to be disbanded once more on 1 April 1947. The Squadron rose again on 1 May 1948 flying Dakotas from Kabrit in Egypt. Valettas arrived in January 1950 and a move to Nicosia in Cyprus in December 1955 saw the introduction of the Hastings and later the Pembroke. Participation in the Suez Campaign in 1956 included the dropping of paratroops as part of the famous assault on El Gamil airfield. July 1966 brought yet another move, this time to Akrotiri, with a conversion to Argosy C1s in 1967 and then, in November 1970, to the C-130K Hercules. On 1 February 1975 the Squadron returned to the UK and was based at RAF Lyneham following more than 50 years in the Near and Middle East. As part of the Lyneham Transport Wing the Squadron specialised in the Tactical Air Transport role in conjunction with elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade and was employed in the Falklands, the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan, as well as in support of humanitarian operations throughout the world. In September 2010 the Squadron stood down once more to await the arrival of the Airbus A400M Atlas aircraft. On 1 October 2014 LXX Squadron re-formed as the RAF’s first front-line A400M Atlas Squadron, with the Squadron’s engineers working alongside a team from Airbus Defence and Space to deliver Atlas maintenance. Atlas is designed to provide a state-of-the-art tactical and strategic Airlift capability to all three Services in peace, crisis and war. Replacing the RAF’s C-130J Hercules fleet, this hugely versatile platform represents a significant complementary capability to the RAF’s existing Air Mobility assets.
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