Awarded: March 1939
Blazon: In front of an Arrow in pale point upwards Gules an Airman’s Leather Glove proper grasping a Gauntlet Argent in fess.
Link: The glove and gauntlet symbolise the friendship between the flying and armament elements of the RAF whilst the arrow represents true flight.
Motto: Latin: Probe Probare – To test properly
History: Formed at Upavon as part of the CFS as Testing Squadron in December 1914 to test prototype & production aircraft. Was re-designated Aeroplane Experimental Station at Martlesham Heath on 16 October 1917, before becoming the Aeroplane Experimental Establishment on 16 March 1920. It was renamed Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment on 24 March 1924 and moved to Boscombe Down on 9 December 1939. Was renamed the Aircraft & Armament Evaluation Establishment on 1 April 1992 before becoming the Assessment & Evaluation Centre under the overall control of the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA) on 1 April 1996 comprising Fast Jet, Heavy Aircraft and Rotary Wing Test Squadrons as well as parenting the Empire Test Pilots School. A split in DERA in 2001 saw the creation of QinetiQ, a company which, together with the Joint Test & Evaluation Group established under the control of RAF Air Command, forms the Aircraft Test & Evaluation Centre (ATEC).
Sponsored by Just Wood and dedicated to all who served with the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment.
Awarded: 1971
Blazon: Shield: Or quarterly between in front of an Arrow in pale point upwards Gules and Airman’s Leather Glove proper grasping a Gauntlet Argent in fess four Martlets Gules all within a bordure barry of eight Argent and Vert.
Crest: On a Wreath of the colours Or and Azure (1&2, 1&2) an Astral Crown Or arising there-from between two demi-Globes Vert a Great Bustard proper charged on the wing with the Boss of a Horse’s Bit Or. Mantling: Gules doubled Argent.
Link: The main element of the Arms reflect the badge awarded to the unit in 1939. The border of green & white bars are from the Arms of Wiltshire which reflect the unit’s origin as part of the CFS at Upavon in 1914 and location at Boscombe Down since 1939. The arrow, representing true flight with the airman’s glove and gauntlet symbolise aeroplanes and armament. The martlets indicate the unit’s location at Martlesham Heath in Suffolk from 1917-1939. Dominating the crest is the Great Bustard, once Britain’s largest native bird which last roamed wild on Salisbury Plain towards the end of the 19th Century and also appears on the Arms of Wiltshire. An heraldic pun also forms part of the Arms. The device on the bird’s wing is the boss from a horse’s bit and the bird is rising from a valley or ‘combe’ in a ‘down’, the name given to the chalk uplands above or between river valleys.
Motto: Latin: Probe Probare – To test properly.
Sponsored by Just Wood and dedicated to all who served with the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment.
Awarded: 1971
Blazon: Shield: Or quarterly between in front of an Arrow in pale point upwards Gules and Airman’s Leather Glove proper grasping a Gauntlet Argent in fess four Martlets Gules all within a bordure barry of eight Argent and Vert.
Crest: On a Wreath of the colours Or and Azure (1&2, 1&2) an Astral Crown Or arising there-from between two demi-Globes Vert a Great Bustard proper charged on the wing with the Boss of a Horse’s Bit Or. Mantling: Gules doubled Argent.
Link: The main element of the Arms reflect the badge awarded to the unit in 1939. The border of green & white bars are from the Arms of Wiltshire which reflect the unit’s origin as part of the CFS at Upavon in 1914 and location at Boscombe Down since 1939. The arrow, representing true flight with the airman’s glove and gauntlet symbolise aeroplanes and armament. The martlets indicate the unit’s location at Martlesham Heath in Suffolk from 1917-1939. Dominating the crest is the Great Bustard, once Britain’s largest native bird which last roamed wild on Salisbury Plain towards the end of the 19th Century and also appears on the Arms of Wiltshire. An heraldic pun also forms part of the Arms. The device on the bird’s wing is the boss from a horse’s bit and the bird is rising from a valley or ‘combe’ in a ‘down’, the name given to the chalk uplands above or between river valleys.
Motto: Latin: Probe Probare – To test properly.
Sponsored by Just Wood and dedicated to all who served with the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment.