Category Archives: USMC

Prime Chance West?

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Marine Corps AH-1Z Vipers of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367 “Scarface” execute flight operations aboard USS Canberra (LCS 30), showing off something which a littoral combat ship could excel at—providing a forward lily pad for maritime sea control.

A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367, is folded on the flight deck of Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) as part of Navy-Marine Corps integration in the White Beach, Okinawa, Oct. 3, 2026. A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367, approaches the flight deck of Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) while conducting flight operations in the Philippine Sea, Oct. 1, 2026. 

Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) moors at White Beach, Okinawa, with a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367, aboard during Navy-Marine Corps integration, Oct. 3, 2026.

Canberra is working with DESRON 7 overseas.

“As the Navy’s forward-deployed destroyer squadron (DESRON) in Southeast Asia, DESRON 7 serves as the primary tactical and operational commander of assigned ships in the Southeast Asia area of operations.”

The Navy has a history of running “green” light attack helicopters from small decks, hosting Task Force 117/118 Army OH/AH-58C/Ds and AH/M-6 Little Birds operated as “Sea Cavalry” during Operation Prime Chance in the Persian Gulf (1987-89) followed by Desert Shield/Storm and off Haiti in Uphold Democracy.

US Army OH-58D Kiowa Warrior of TF 118’s 4 Sqn., 17 Cav., 18 Aviation Brig. “Thugs” overflying USS Curts (FFG-38). Academy model top box art.

Task Force 118, OP Prime Chance, a Navy FFG with A/OH-58D Kiowa embarked

With the Army giving all its Kiowas a dirt nap in without replacement, and the Apache just a beast, the Viper could be up.

The Marines have been using Vipers and companion UH-1Y Venoms in a series of very kinetic maritime interdictions in both the Middle East and Eastern Pacific. Perhaps LCS has found a mission it can do.

A U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 365 (Reinforced), Littoral Combat Force-24, flies over a vessel of interest being destroyed during a Maritime Interdiction Operation while in the Pacific Ocean, Sept. 05, 2026. The vessel of interest was boarded and cleared before being destroyed. U.S. military forces are deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility in support of Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, Department of War-directed operations, and the President’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking, deter malign actors and protect the homeland through continuous presence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo)

Which one is Klinger?

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Talk about right out of central casting for M*A*S*H, complete with the Dodge WC-54 Ambulance and Bell 47/H-13 Sioux chopper, complete with its iconic “soap bubble” canopy.

Official period caption: “Personnel and equipment needed to save a man’s life are assembled at HQs of the 8225th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, Korea. October 14, 1951.”

Signal Corps Photo by Cpl. Charles Abrahamson. (Army) NARA FILE # 111-SC-382662 WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1457

The unit, formed originally as the 2nd MASH, arrived in Korea on 15 October 1950 and established operations near Seoul to support U.S. and United Nations forces. They typically operated 15-20 miles behind the “front,” which translated to a roughly hour-long ambulance or jeep ride, a time cut down to minutes if a helicopter was available.

Assigned to support a division-sized unit with 60 beds (later rising to 200 by 1953), 10 medical officers, 12 nursing officers, and 89 enlisted soldiers, a MASH unit was small and compact, but could quickly process and stabilize hundreds of casualties between the battalion aid station and larger brick-and-mortar hospitals behind the lines and back in Japan/Hawaii.

8076th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit in Chunchon, Korea, on July 29, 1951.

They could “bug out” if needed– and they often had to. Some units moved dozens of times with the movement of the fluid main line of resistance (MLR), with the 8055th notably shifting location on 14 occasions and the 8063rd a remarkable 23 times.

An operation is performed on a wounded soldier at the 8209th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, twenty miles from the front lines. 4 August 1952. 111-SC-409689

The first in Korea, the 8055th MASH, arrived in Pusan on 6 July 1950 from Japan, while the 8076th MASH arrived on 25 July 1950. The 8228th arrived shortly after.

The 1st Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (later redesignated the 8209th MASH in May 1951) arrived in Korea at Inchon on 26 September 1950 to support the 7th Infantry Division and was set up at a damaged schoolhouse in Hungnam before being evacuated aboard the SS Towanda Victory on 18 December 1950.

The six Army MASH units were famously aided by 1st MAW VMO squadrons and four aeromedical helicopter evacuation units, which began arriving in January 1951: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Helicopter Detachments, with the 1st later becoming the 8190th Army Unit, the 2nd the 8191st, the 3rd the 8192nd, and the 4th the 8193rd Army Unit.

A Marine Bell 47 H-13 Sioux. Official period caption: “Korea – Aircraft – Helicopters and Med-Evac. Litter Bearer. This Bell helicopter has been used extensively in Korea to evacuate the wounded. The compact craft, capable of landing almost anywhere, carries two litters, one on each side of the. transparent “cabin.” Signal Corps # 127-GR-211-A132545. National Archives Identifier 74244079

Bell 47 H-13 Sioux in action. Official period caption: “Helicopter take off–A helicopter takes off for a front-line mission to aid wounded personnel and deliver them to medical stations and hospitals in Korea. The ‘copter is part of a Marine Observation Squadron of the First Marine Aircraft Wing.” Signal Corps # 127-GK-13E-A346324. National Archives Identifier 505633285

Despite all the difficulties encountered, the first three operational Army air ambulance detachments evacuated 5,040 casualties during the first 12 months of operation, logging a total of 4,421 hours of flying time. One pilot (1st Lt Joseph Bowler) logged over 800 evacs during just 10 months.

Of the 23,000 wounded soldiers brought to forward-deployed MASH units in Korea, 18,000 arrived by Army H-13 or Hiller H-23 Raven helicopters. One Eighth Army surgeon said that of 750 critically wounded soldiers evacuated on 20 February 1951 during the Chinese offensive, half would have died without the use of helicopters.

As shown in the film and TV show, many of the surgeons were drafted under the Doctor’s Draft Act of 1950, with an estimated 90 percent of MASH doctors by 1952 being draftees, while 540 female nursing officers served tours of duty on the Korean peninsula, the latter earning 9 Legions of Merit, 120 Bronze Stars, and 173 Commendation Ribbons.

In February 1953, the six Army MASH units there were reorganized as the 43rd, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army), or the far less catchy “SHMA.”

In terms of “meatball surgery,” the MASHs excelled, with one treating 21,408 patients in a single year, one processing 600 patients in a day, and another performing 244 operations in 24 hours. It is often said that, as long as a wounded soldier reached a MASH unit, their odds of survival rose to 97.5 percent. Korean War doctors also reduced the amputation rate resulting from vascular injury to 20.5 percent from 49.6 percent during World War II.

Marines watch the tracks fade away

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Men of the 7th Infantry Division head for the beaches of Okinawa in LVTs. 1 April, 1945. SC 205191

Marine LVTP-5 in Vietnam. From the Kenneth W. Koldys Collection (COLL/5791) at the Marine Corps History Division

The legacy AAVP7. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacqueline C. Arre)

The AAV, or assault amphibious vehicle, Model 7, has served with the U.S. Marine Corps since 1972, replacing the mammoth LVTP-5, adopted just after Korea and used in Vietnam. And, naturally, it continued the legacy of the 18,000 WWII-era Amtrac LVT “gators” that began entering service in July 1941.

Now the age of the amtracker has ended, as the AAV7 made its final operational employment during Exercise Sea Breeze 26 in the Black Sea.

Check out this somber requiem as the age of the tracked vehicle comes to an end in the Marines, with their tanks disbanded along with the assorted M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV), M9 Armored Combat Earthmovers, and Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges of the Marines’ engineer battalions. The  AAV7 has been replaced by just over 600 of the 8×8 Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV), which will have several roles in addition to toting Marines over the beach.

Locate, close with, and destroy

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You have to love this line of the Camp Lejeune-based 3/6 Marines in a slow-walk live-fire line while underway in the Caribbean.

Official caption:

Sighted In! U.S. Marines with Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), conduct live-fire drills aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Sep. 17, 2025, during Deployment 25-26. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the President’s priorities.

CARIBBEAN SEA - U.S. Marines with Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), conduct live fire drills aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Sep. 17, 2025. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the president’s priorities. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tanner Bernat)

USMC Photo by Sgt. Tanner Bernat.

Rifles all seem to be the M27 IAR (HK 416 piston gun assembled in Georgia), almost all are seen with PEQ-15 target pointers, the Squad Common Optic (Trijicon VCOG 1-8×28), and KAC QDSS NT4 suppressors. Also note the near-universal use of a single belt-mounted mag carrier off-hand (in addition to the six on the plate carrier) as well as a left-rear SSE bag/dump pouch.

Formed 14 August 1917, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines deployed to France just two months later and earned its “Teufelhunden” (Devil Dogs) nickname against the Germans, fighting eyeball-to-eyeball at Aisne-Marne, Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne with the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division– keeping an Indian Head on its patch to mark this time. They also earned a French Croix de Guerre and Fourragère for their war “Over There.”

Reactivated for WWII, the unit initially garrisoned Iceland, then was folded into the 2nd MarDiv for Guadalcanal, the Southern Solomons, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. Cold War operations included Lebanon, the DR for Power Pack in 1962, Panama for Just Cause, Desert Sheild/Storm, Mogadishu in 94, the Haitan Vacation (also in 94), and numerous trips to the sandbox during GWOT.

As with every Marine unit, their stated mission is to

Locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver or repel the enemy’s assault with fire and close combat

Marines using Drone Rounds in FATS/ISMT system trainers

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The InVeris FATS (Firearms Training Simulator) and later ISMT (Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer) systems have been used by the military going back to the 1980s. Besides giving some (virtual) trigger time in a safe indoor environment, the latter is key for bases with extreme summer or winter climates; they allow for real-time feedback and the use of more exotic scenarios than can be staged on a flat range.

Plus, they are fun. I’ve had a blast on them in the past.

U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, forward deployed with 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division as part of the Unit Deployment Program, fire an M249 Squad Automatic Rifle light machine gun while conducting an Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Apr. 29, 2026. The training is a computer-based, 3D interactive simulator used to train Marines in marksmanship, tactical decision-making, and weapons handling without the use of live ammunition, while also being able to replicate various combat and range scenarios. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. John Simpson)

Well, in a great case of “train as you fight,” the Marines have just bought 400,000 5.56 NATO L Variant counter-UAS cartridges from Drone Round Defense, with another million on the schedule for FY27. The Marines already field the real thing downrange for use in M4s and M27s.

From the press release:

That fielding timeline created an immediate training requirement. Counter-UAS engagements demand a different skill set than conventional marksmanship, including target lead on fast-moving aerial threats at close range. Live rounds issued to units are intended for operational use, not familiarization.

As part of the Marine Corps’ Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer (ISMT) Tech Refresh, InVeris will introduce a new counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) training capability. This enhancement will enable Marines across the force the ability to engage with aerial drone threats with their individual weapon in a simulated environment. By integrating C-UAS training with the M27 IAR simulator and fielding it across more than 200 ISMT systems, Marines will be able to repeatedly practice detecting, tracking, deciding when to engage, and engaging aerial threats. Because the capability is built on InVeris’ existing COTS platform, additional scenarios, threats, and courses of fire will continually be developed as the UAS threat and Marine Corps tactics, techniques, and procedures evolve.

“The round was built so a Marine could use the rifle already in their hands, and the training has to work the same way, on the simulators already in the building. Getting the virtual capability out at the same time as the ammunition means a Marine can practice the engagement before the moment they need it.” said Kirk Fernandez, co-founder and CEO of Drone Round.

“This partnership reflects the innovation the Marine Corps needs — taking the training infrastructure they already trust and readying it for Counter-UAS defense. InVeris is proud that our platform allows us to build this capability into the ISMT Tech Refresh rather than standing up something entirely new. This is what it means to grow with our customer’s mission,” said Clyde Tuggle, CEO of InVeris.

The Marine Corps has been building counter-drone proficiency into general-purpose forces through 2026. The service introduced its first counter-small unmanned aerial system lanes during Service Level Training Exercise 4-26 in July at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, with Marines engaging aerial targets using organic small arms alongside non-kinetic electronic warfare techniques. Soldiers with the U.S. Army XVIII Airborne Corps have trained with Drone Round ammunition since April 2026.

The L Variant separates into five projectiles after firing to increase the probability of a hit against small drones. It is effective out to 100 meters, requires no modification to standard 5.56mm NATO weapons, and is full-auto and suppressor-capable. Drone Round has also developed L and K Variants in 7.62x51mm.

How Copy?

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Happy National Radio Day!

And, as the grandson of a Vietnam-era Fort Gordon Regular Army Signals Corps instructor (MOS 31Z5H, 31W50) with two tours in Vietnam and the two Bronze Stars and 7-starred-VSM on his DD-214 to show for it, big salute to those unsung RTOs with the PRC-25s and PRC-77s on their back, up to their chins in the rice paddies and river marsh, who were still able to smile about it.

Radio…check

Checkerboard Fury: 110,743 rounds on Deployment

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From the February 1959 issue of Navy Aviation News comes this article about the month-long deployment of the “Checkerboards” of Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 312 to Cuba.

Sent “down south” during the height of the Cuban Revolution, their 24 FJ-2 Furies flew 1,300 flight hours of diplomacy and fired over 110,743 rounds in air-to-air target quals from their Colt Mk 12 cannons– that’s a lot of 20 Mike Mike!

VMF-312 hung up their FJ-2/3s for the F8U-1 Crusader in 1959, then became VMFA-312 when they moved to the monstrous F-4B Phantom in 1966, which they took to Vietnam.

In 1987, they became F-18C/Ds drivers, which they took to Bosnia and Iraq.

A U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 312 flies loaded with six AIM-120D advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and two AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles over the Pacific Ocean Oct. 27, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps courtesy photo by Capt. Ryan Fronczek).

Currently, they are set to transition to the STOVL F-35B.

Word is, they are still a whizz with the 20mm. Some things never change.

VMF-312 Insignia, circa 1943

Sea Control Ship, is that you?

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On the road in Utah for an industry event this week, so I didn’t have the 10-20 hours needed to pull off a Warship Wednesday.

In its place, let us talk about one of Uncle Elmo’s pet projects.

Back in the 1970s, CNO Elmo Zumwalt’s “Sea Control Ship” concept that would provide a Cold War-era evolution to the escort carrier concept for convoy protection and ASW hunter-killer teams, the basic idea was to turn these small flattops (18,000-tons, 592-feet oal) like the Iwo Jima-class LPH into economical CVEs overnight through the fly-on of a Marine Harrier det for air defense/surface strike and a Navy Sea King SH-3 ASW/SAR element.

The entry for Iwo Jima-class LPH USS Guam as an interim sea control ship in the 1973-74 Jane’s

Of course, Zumwalt wanted some dedicated SCS hulls, but, barring the shipbuilding dollars, the Iwo Jimas could work in a pinch.

Planned Sea Control Ship concept, art

Planned Sea Control Ship concept, model

Sea control ship outline, Janes ’73

Fast forward to earlier this year, and we have seen perhaps the most fleshed-out example to date of Zumwalt’s SCS concept.

The America class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) just returned home to Okinawa after six months in CENTCOM.

While she deployed in less than an all-out “Lightning Carrier” configuration which would have allowed for 20 embarked F-35Bs, her MEU’s Aviation Combat Element included at least six F-35Bs of the “Green Knights” of VMFA-121.

USS Tripoli (LHA-7) refuels USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) at sea (U.S. Navy Photo)

These F-35Bs, coupled with the rotary-winged assets of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Rein.), flew 1,600 combat hours with zero mishaps, including 300 aerial refueling evolutions, Sidewinder/AMRAAM-equipped counter-air sorties, and enforcing the naval blockade of Iran, turning back 140 ships.

America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) sails in the 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East, April 24, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)

An F-35B Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, takes off from the flight deck of America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), April 23, 2026. Tripoli is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East. (U.S. Navy photo)

An F-35B Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, takes off from the flight deck of America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), May 11, 2026. Tripoli is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East. (U.S. Navy photo)

An F-35B Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, takes off from the flight deck of America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), May 13, 2026. Tripoli is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East. (U.S. Navy photo)

An F-35B Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, takes off from the flight deck of America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), May 13, 2026. Tripoli is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East. (U.S. Navy photo)

U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning IIs assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, land aboard forward-deployed America-class assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), during flight operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 30, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Victor Gurrola)

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 3rd Class MarkJoshner Dait, launches an F-35B Lightning II jet on the flight deck of forward-deployed America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), July 20, 2026. Tripoli is currently underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet, the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Danian C. Aiko-Douglas).

Navy MH-60s helped shuttle around VBSS dets from Tripoli’s deck while her embarked UH-1Y Venoms rode shotgun, literally, with Mini Guns, rockets, airborne snipers (w Barrett .50 cals), and EW at the ready.

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit rappels out of an MH-60S Sea Hawk USS Tripoli (LHA 7)

AN/ALQ-231(V)3 Intrepid Tiger II electronic warfare pod on a 31st MEU UH-1Y Venom helicopter aboard USS Tripoli (LHA-7) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, June 11, 2026. Of note, the ALQ-231 is also carried by the F-18. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Maksim Masloboev)

U.S. Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit load onto a UH-1Y Venom assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Rein.), 31st MEU, during aerial sniper and close air support training in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 31, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Victor Gurrola)

Tripoli was relieved on station by USS Boxer (LHD 4) with F-35Bs of VMFA-122 embarked as part of the 11th MEU.

You know…

To control the sea…

As per Zumwalt.

A U.S. Sailor assigned to Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) signals a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, to take off during flight operations aboard in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, July 17, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Trent A. Henry)

The Harrier Still Serves…

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With the sunsetting of the AV-8B in USMC service in May, it is refreshing to see these images from the recently concluded Neptune Strike 26-3 of Spanish AV-8Bs (the world’s youngest Harriers) of Novena Escuadrilla (9th Squadron, the Spanish Navy’s sole fixed-wing fighter aircraft unit), doing their thing in the Atlantic aboard the 26,000-ton carrier SPS Juan Carlos I (L 61).

The last brand-new AV-8B Harrier was constructed for the Spanish Navy (Armada Española), SN VA.1B-39 (military code 01-927, serial # SR5), delivered in December 2003, marking the end of the global AV-8B manufacturing program.

The final Harrier II Plus flying over St.Louis headed out for delivery in 2003.

The country recently acquired five retired USMC Harrier airframes for spare parts cannibalization, and the Spanish intend to be the final user of the type, scheduled to sunset in 2032.

The Italian Navy is set to retire its last Harriers by 2029, and could pass on its final cache of parts to the NATO ally at that point.

The last American Harriers were 68 AV-8B+(R)-25/26/27-MC models which were remanufactured  (“REMAN”) from 74 earlier airframes between 1997 and 2003, with the last delivered being BuNo 166288 (ex-163665). That final airframe, last Modex 18 of VMA-223, completed its final flight in March 2026, a fly-in to the NNAM in Pensacola for preservation two months before U.S. Harrier operations wound down. 

Just 340 precious American-made B-series Harriers were delivered to all countries of all types, including AV-8B attack jets, TAV-8B two-seat trainers, and YAV-8B prototypes.

AV-8B Assembly in St. Louis, circa 1981

Flying Boat Blast from the Past (coming to an atoll near you?)

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Some 85 years ago, official period caption: “An air infantry mortar squadron loads a Navy Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina patrol bombing plane, 18 March 1941.”

Via the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, 80-G-2156

Now, fast forward to this week, and news comes that a Hong Kong company intends to operate the turboprop-powered Catalina IIs with Pan American World Airways’ “Winged Globe” logo.

From Flight Global:

Catalina Aircraft Trust, the Florida holder of the original Catalina amphibious flying boat’s type certificate, has taken another step toward bringing a modernised turboprop-powered variant of the aircraft to market.

The company has secured a letter of intent from Hong Kong-based Pan American Airways System covering purchases of up to 46 of the planned NGAA “Next Generation Amphibious Aircraft” Catalina II.

Catalina Aircraft is now evaluating engines, avionics and other systems needed to develop the aircraft, which founder and president Lawrence Reece notes will be the only Western-certificated transport-category flying boat.

He envisions demand for up to 600 Catalina IIs of several configurations.

More here.

Of course, with Hong Kong officially part of Red China, whether they want to be or not, the prospect that these 46 shiny new flying boats could be used to shuttle around small detachments of PLAN naval infantry around the Nine-Dash Line is real.

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