Chapter 4 - Formations, Vessels, Aircraft and Vehicles of the Armed Forces
                         
Table 4.8 Aircraft fleets by type of aircraft for the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, at 1 April each year
From 2006 onwards the term Required Operating Fleet is no longer used and has been replaced by Forward Available Fleet as defined in the introduction to Chapter 4. The Required Operating Fleet was the total number of aircraft needed to undertake the defined military task.
      Required Operating Fleet   FAF1  
Aircraft type Aircraft role   2003 2004 2005   2006 2007 2008   2009  
                         
Merlin Mk 1 Anti-Submarine   27 33 33 || 27 30 30   28  
 
Lynx Mk 3 Anti-Submarine / Anti-Ship   29 29 29 || 23 21 21   19  
Lynx Mk 8 Anti-Submarine / Anti-Ship   26 26 26 || 23 20 20   20  
 
Sea King Mk 5 Anti-Submarine and Search & Rescue   12 12 12 || 11 11 11   11  
Sea King MK 6 Anti-Submarine   8 3 2 || - - -   -  
Sea King Mk 7 ASAC Airborne Surveillance and Area Control   10 10 10 || 9 9 10   10  
 
Hawk Fleet Training Support   15 15 14 || 14 12 12   12  
 
Jetstream T2 Aircrew Training   8 8 8 || 8 8 8   8  
Jetstream T32 Aircrew Training and Support   3 3 3 || 3 2 2   - 2
Source: MOD Resources and Plans
1. Forward Available Fleet - see Introduction to Chapter 4.
2. The RN Comms Flight became non-operational during 2008.