Welcome to this brief introduction to 31 Squadron ‘Goldstars’. This website will give you some information about our history (we have spent less than 12 years in UK since our formation in 1915) and it will bring you bang up to date on the exciting current roles, tactics and equipment of today.

For 31 Squadron as for most military units, Afghanistan is never far away from our thoughts. For us though, deploying there as the first Marham Squadron in 2009 had special meaning as it meant the Squadron had come full circle since its formation and immediate posting to India (now Pakistan). When supporting UK and coalition forces across all of Afghanistan, 31 Squadron aircraft were once again operating to secure areas around Kabul and in and around the Khyber Pass, just like the pioneers back in 1915 who blazed the trail and earned the Squadron motto ‘First in Indian Skies’.

In the modern age, canvass and fabric has been replaced by aluminium and jet engines and an array of reconnaissance sensors coupled with a range of precision weapons. The role of Combat ISTAR (being able to perform a wide range of tasks, from reconnaissance, showing presence, deterring and delivering kinetic effect if necessary) is one in which our current aircraft, the Tornado GR4, excels. At speeds of up to 10 miles a minute and in all weathers, it is a crucial contributor to the current operations.

The Squadron is blessed with a multiple award-winning engineering team – most recently commended for their unprecedented record of achieving a 100% sortie launch rate over 400 sorties in Afghanistan and then winners of the HQ 1 Group Engineering Excellence prize. This commitment and dedication has ensured guaranteed support to ground forces.

I hope you enjoy finding out more about the Squadron, its role, it’s equipment and most of all its people.

Pictures Crown Copyright/Jamie Hunter

31 Squadron is part of the 138 Expeditionary Wing at RAF Marham
31 Squadrons aircraft and crews were part of the RAF Tornado force in the Gulf War of 1991 and the Squadron continues to fly on regular operations over Iraq. On 1 January 1995 the Squadron was declared in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) role equipped with the Air Launched Anti Radiation Missile (ALARM) . During 1999 the Squadron re-equipped with the Tornado GR4 qualifying a night EO Combat Ready cadre by the end of that year. 1999 also saw 31 Squadron participate in Operation ENGADINE, NATO operations over the Former Republic of Yugoslavia.




Officer Commanding 31 Squadron

Wing Commander Jim Mulholland MA BSc (Hons) RAF

Jim Mulholland began his Royal Air Force career on 3 Sep 1989. Following 3 years of flying training on Manchester and Salford University Air Squadron, he graduated from Manchester with a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Manufacturing Management and Materials Science in the Summer of 1992. After further flying training, his Front-Line experience began on 31 Sqn at RAF Bruggen, Germany in June 1996, where he operated the Tornado GR1 and GR4 in the Strike and Suppression of Enemy Air Defences roles. At the end of his first tour he was selected to attend the Qualified Weapons Instructors Course, and on successful completion in Jan 2000, he became the Tornado Qualified Weapons Instructor (QWI) on XIII Sqn at RAF Marham, where his duties also encompassed the Tactical Reconnaissance role. In May 2002 he was promoted to Squadron Leader and moved to London to become a Staff Officer within the Directorate of Equipment Capability Deep Target Attack at the Ministry Of Defence (MoD). In this role he was directly responsible for delivery into service of Storm Shadow and development of the Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) concept. He returned to the Front-Line in 2005, as an Executive Officer on 31 Sqn; where he led the introduction into Operational Service, and initiated the subsequent development of, the RAF’s anti-armour weapon Brimstone, led the Operations LEAN event, and project managed the delivery of RAPTOR onto Operations. In 2008 he graduated from the Advanced Command and Staff Course at Shrivenham with a Masters in strategic studies and a diploma in strategic management. In his last role he returned to the MoD as the Assistant Director of Weapons with responsibility for all air-to-ground weapons and TLAM; during his tenure he wrote the Department’s weapon strategy and was heavily involved in the Weapons Work Strand of the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Over 50% of Mulholland’s 1500 fast-jet flying hours have been spent on operations and his 14 years experience covers involvement in Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan, as well as participation in numerous North American, Canadian, European, and NATO Exercises and courses, where he has led at every level. During his time as a QWI he was both instrumental in changing the RAF’s philosophy on the employment and tactics pertaining delivery of Laser Guided Weapons. During Gulf War II, as the Storm Shadow Desk officer, he brought forward the capability of the weapon under an Urgent Operational Requirement to see it successfully employed during the first hours of the conflict; he subsequently was credited with it being accepted fully into RAF Service. He was also influential in the evolution of the SPEAR capability which is now the RAF’s key weapons programme. In addition, he orchestrated the acceptance into RAF Service of the Brimstone Weapon System and initiated the Dual Mode Seeker capability that was fielded under an Urgent Operational Requirement in Dec 08. In his last tour he has overseen the successful acceptance by the RAF of the Precision Guided Bomb and TLAM Block IV programmes. He comes from the North of England, is married to Marie, is proud of his roots and accent, and is a Preston North End shareholder.