Tag Archives: VMM-163

Viper spotted

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Tough to get a great LSO image, but this one rocks. Remember the magic of long exposures in low light, folks.

Official caption:

A sailor signals to a Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer during flight operations in the South China Sea, June 13, 2026. The helicopter and aviators are assigned to the Marine Corps’ 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group to provide deterrence and crisis response in the Indo-Pacific region.

USMC Photo 260613-M-KL381-9647 by Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Nicole Stuart

The 11th MEU’s air team is the “Evil Eyes” of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced) out of MCAS Miramar. which falls under the 3rd MAW/MAG-16. The squadron dates back to Korea, where it was stood up as the “Ridgerunners” of HMR-163. In turn, the AH-1Z dets used by the squadron are typically pulled from HMLA-267 (Stingers) or HMLA-169 (Vipers)

Just 189 Vipers, derived from the earlier Bell AH-1W SuperCobra, have been produced for the Marines since 2006, and 159 are still in inventory, assigned to six remaining active Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons (HMLAs).

Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducts a fly-by during aerial sniper training in the South China Sea, June 12, 2026. US Marine Corps photo

An AH-1Z Viper, BuNo 169251, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, flies over the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 23, 2026.

The More Things Change, Huey Boxer Edition

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Some 59 years ago this month: Benson E.L. Timmons III, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, arrives aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LPH-4) in September 1964. Note the beautiful early UH-1E in bright full-color livery.

From the William C. Reed Collection (COLL/5634) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division

The Marine Corps adopted the UH-1E— essentially the same as the Army’s UH-1B but with a rotor stop to allow shipboard stowage and a rescue hoist installed– in March 1962 with the first deliveries arriving in February 1964. That means Ambassador Timmons’ bird was one of the first USMC Hueys in service, likely of VMO-1, the inagural East Coast UH-1E squadron.

As for Boxer, the former Essex-class fleet carrier (CV-21) came late to World War II, commissioned on 16 April 1945. She did, however, see extensive service in Korea, earning eight (of a possible 10) battle stars for the conflict. Converting to an ASW carrier in 1955 (with the same hull number but with an “S” added) she changed her entire game in 1959 by becoming an LPH (“Landing Platform Helicopter”).

She would maintain the designation in the “Gator Navy” for a decade including sending Marines ashore via vertical envelopment in Operation Powerpack in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and moving 200 helicopters and a brigade’s worth of troopers of the 1st Cavalry to Vietnam.

Operation Power Pack, Dominican Republic, February 1965. USS Boxer (LPH-4) getting it done. 

Decommissioned in 1969 as one of the last “straight deck” Essex class carriers in service, she was quickly sold for scrap.

Today, a new Gator with the same magic “4” on her island has been in service since 1995.

USS Boxer (LPH-4) of 1959 compared to today’s USS Boxer (LHD-4)

Roughly the same size and with the same sort of deck as the old LPH-4, the newer USS Boxer (LHD 4) also runs Hueys to this day.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ (July 18, 2019) A UH-1Y Venom helicopter assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) during a strait transit. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton Swanbeck/Released)