Formed by consolidating the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation (NARO) and the RAFs Maintenance Group Defence Agency (MGDA) in April 1999 to realise logistic savings in a single organisation. Efforts to encourage a more commercial approach resulted in DARA becoming a profit centre (Trading Fund), wholly owned by the MoD in 2001. 
As budgets tightened throughout Government, a drains-up review of Defence Logistics - in parallel with intense political lobbying - resulted in the Fast Jet work being consolidated on main operational bases (eg Tornado work went to RAF Marham) - arguably, on a questionable Government business case - even though major investments had been made at the existing DARA facilities (the Super Hangar) at St Athan. This was a significant blow to DARA which following its own strategic business review, DARA concluded it would sell its remaining rotary wing repair operation at Fleetlands and its Almondbank spares facility to Vector Aerospace from Apr 2008.
The RAF and Royal Navy Merlin depth maintenance programmes were merged and located at RNAS Culdrose. But the writing was on the wall for the slimmed down DARA, now lacking critical mass. DARA disappeared when it was merged with the ex-Army ABRO (itself formed in 1993 by a series of reorganisations and mergers) and emerged as the Defence Support Group (DSG) on 1 Apr 2008.
Locations | |
| Years | Location | ICAO/FAA |
| 1999/08 | Fleetlands | EGVF |
| 1999/08 | MoD St Athan | EGDX |
| 1999/08 | Almondbank |
Models | Login to Edit | |
| Years | Models | |
| Aerospatiale AS355F Ecureuil 2 | ||
| Aerospatiale Gazelle | ||
| Aerospatiale SA330E Puma | ||
| Aerospatiale SA341C Gazelle HT.2 | ||
| Aerospatiale SA341D Gazelle HT.3 | ||
| Aerospatiale SE3130 Alouette II | ||
| AgustaWestland AW109E Power | ||
| AgustaWestland AW139 | ||
| AgustaWestland EH101 | ||
| AgustaWestland Merlin HC.3 | ||
| AgustaWestland Merlin HM.1 | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H125 / AS350B3e Ecureuil | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H135 / EC135T3 | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H145 / EC145T2 | ||
| Bell AH-1G Cobra | ||
| Bell OH-58A Kiowa | ||
| Bristol Sycamore 3 | ||
| Bristol Sycamore 4 | ||
| Bristol Type 173 | ||
| Eurocopter AS350BB Ecureuil | ||
| Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin 2 | ||
| Saunders Roe Skeeter 3 | ||
| Saunders Roe Skeeter 4 | ||
| Saunders Roe Skeeter 5 | ||
| Saunders Roe Skeeter 6 | ||
| Sikorsky S-51 / R-5 / H-5 | ||
| Sikorsky S-55 | ||
| Sikorsky S-61D-1 | ||
| Sikorsky S-61L | ||
| Westland Dragonfly HR.1 | ||
| Westland Dragonfly HR.3 | ||
| Westland Lynx | ||
| Westland Lynx HAS2 | ||
| Westland Lynx mk87 | ||
| Westland Lynx AH1 | ||
| Westland Lynx AH7 | ||
| Westland Lynx HAS3 | ||
| Westland Lynx mk28 | ||
| Westland Scout AH.1 | ||
| Westland Sea King HAS.1 | ||
| Westland Sea King HC.4 | ||
| Westland Sioux | ||
| Westland Wasp | ||
| Westland Wessex HAS.1 | ||
| Westland Wessex HAS.3 | ||
| Westland Wessex HC.2 | ||
| Westland Wessex HU.5 | ||
| Westland Whirlwind HAR.1 | ||
| Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 | ||
| Westland Whirlwind HAR.3 | ||
| Westland Whirlwind HAR.4 | ||
| Westland Whirlwind HAR.5 | ||
| Westland Whirlwind HAS.7 | ||
