No. 39 Squadron (XXXIX Squadron) is a historic unit that most recently served as the Royal Air Force's first Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) squadron before disbanding in July 2022. Operating the MQ-9A Reaper from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada (though headquartered at RAF Waddington), it provided critical intelligence and strike capabilities over Afghanistan and the Middle East for over a decade. The squadron's heritage is legendary: formed in 1916 for Home Defence, it gained immediate fame when pilot William Leefe Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross for shooting down a German airship over Britain—a feat commemorated by the "Winged Bomb" on its badge. Its motto, Die Noctuque ("By Day and Night"), was equally applicable to its Cold War role flying the English Electric Canberra for high-altitude reconnaissance, a platform it operated for nearly 50 years before transitioning to drone warfare.
