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The Project Legacy flight was a ‘unique opportunity for all aircraft platforms across Marine Air Group 11 (MAG-11) to fly as one team, practice tight formations, and take part in the documentation of a historical flight.’
U.S. Marine Corps aircraft, including legacy FA-18C/D Hornets, F-35B and F35C Lightning IIs, and a KC-130J Super Hercules took part in a rare formation flight off the coast of San Diego, California, on Mar. 4, 2025. The aircraft are part of the units assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11 (MAG-11), within the broader 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).
The flight was part of what has been called Project Legacy, with a caption mentioning it “was a unique opportunity for all aircraft platforms across MAG-11 to fly as one team, practice tight formations, and take part in the documentation of a historical flight.”
Images released on the DVIDS network showed three twin and single seat FA-18C/D Hornets, an F-35B, two F-35Cs and a KC-130J flying together. Notably, with the Hornets armed with an assortment of weapons, including an F/A-18D with two AGM-88 HARM missiles and an F/A-18C with a full load of ten AIM-120 AMRAAM and two AIM-9X air-to-air missiles (all inert weapons).
The Hornets belong to VMFA (Marine Fighter Attack Squadron) 323 and VMFA-232, while the two F-35Cs and the single F-35B are assigned to VMFA-311, VMFA-314 and VMFAT (Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron) 502, respectively.
The KC-130J Super Hercules was from the v (VMGR-352). A second KC-130J might have been used as photoshop, as shown by the picture which appears to show part of the rear ramp, taking the total number of airframes that participated in the event to eight.
Ten CATM-120s. Nice.
Video link:https://t.co/ore3o11vSy https://t.co/tZpPWwOO8u pic.twitter.com/EhtKfXUqcK
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) March 8, 2025
F/A-18C/D Hornets and loadouts
Among the most interesting payloads was that of a single-seat F/A-18C Hornet, specifically the aircraft assigned to the commander of VMFA-323, which was carrying 10 CATM-120s (Captive Air Training Missile 120), used to simulate the AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile). They are carried in groups of two on dual LAU-127 missile rails on the wings, with two more on the hardpoints on the outside of the air inlets.
Two CATM-9X Sidewinders are also installed on the wingtips, bringing the total number of missiles to 12. Lastly, the Hornet is carrying a 330 gal external fuel tank on the centerline. This heavy configuration is not unprecedented, as it was seen already in the past also on foreign Hornets, such as one of the Swiss Air Force, but it is interesting nonetheless. This jet is also shown as it is being refuelled by a KC-130J Super Hercules of VMGR-352.
Two twin-seat F/A-18D Hornets, one from VMFA-232 and one from VMFA-323, are carrying a standard loadout of two CATM-9 Sidewinders on the wingtips and two external fuel tanks on the middle hardpoints.
An F/A-18D from VMFA-232 also has an interesting loadout of two CATM-9s, two CATM-88 HARMs (High-Speed Radiation Missiles) on the wing’s outer hardpoints, two external tanks on the inner pylons, and a Litening pod on the centerline.
F-35Bs and F-35Cs
The Marine Corps’ single F-35B from VMFAT-502 and the two F35Cs from VMFA-314 and VMFA-311 are flying together in different formations. They are also shown while releasing flares as they fly behind the KC-130. Except for the VMFA 311 commander’s F-35, all the jets also have their radar reflectors installed.
Additionally, the F-35B is flying in a clean configuration without external payloads, while the F-35Cs have the rails for AIM-9 missiles installed on their outermost weapons stations.The F-35B also receives fuel mid-air from the KC-130J Super Hercules.
It is not clear how long the Project Legacy flight lasted, but images showing the backdrop of the sun setting over the Californian seas indicate that it might have headed well into late evening.
