No. 617 Squadron RAF No. 617 Squadron RAF Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as the "Dambusters", for its actions during Operation Chastise against German dams during the Second World War. In the early 21st century it operated the Tornado GR4 in the ground attack and reconnaissance role until being disbanded in the spring of 2014. The squadron reformed on 17 April 2018, and was equipped at RAF Marham during summer 2018 with the F-35 Lightning II, becoming the UK's first squadron with this advanced V/STOL type. According to the
RAF-977 assembly capacity (only 3000 units a year) at the RAF plant (which still used trolleys, rather than a modern assembly line), its production started at the ErAZ factory in Yerevan, Armenia, 1 May 1966 as ErAZ-762. This was nicknamed "Yeraz" (Armenian for "dream"). By 1973, ErAZ's production reached 6,500 per year; with the innovation of overhead carriage, capacity almost doubled, to 12,000 a year. The 977 was also produced under licence by "Lugansk Avto Remontnyi Zavod" (LARZ). In 1969, an improved ErAZ-762A also appeared. Production of the RAF-977 ceased in 1975, when it was replaced by RAF-2203 Latvia. The 977