Officially Licensed US Navy HSM-35 Magicians Squadron Leather Patch - Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 35 (HSM-35), the Navy's first composite expeditionary helicopter squadron, rendered in a premium full-grain leather patch format with officially licensed insignia.
The Magicians do what others say cannot be done, blending manned and unmanned naval aviation into one forward-deployed, sea-going strike package.
Re-established in 2013 at Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California, HSM-35 inherited the proud Magicians callsign from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 35, which served the fleet from 1973 to 1992. The modern squadron broke new ground as the first in the Navy to operate both the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle within a single unit, writing the doctrine for manned-unmanned teaming that now shapes naval rotary-wing aviation. Flying from the decks of littoral combat ships and surface combatants, the Magicians deliver maritime strike, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and ISR capabilities that extend a ship's reach far beyond the horizon. During their first operational deployment aboard USS Fort Worth, a single HSM-35 detachment logged more than 90 hours of search operations and covered more than 2,500 square nautical miles in the Java Sea alone, demonstrating the real-world impact of their pioneering composite mission model. This leather patch carries that history in a durable, collectible format built for shadow boxes, flight jackets, gear bags, and display panels.
Perfect For: HSM-35 Magicians veterans and current aircrew, MH-60R Seahawk pilots and aircrewmen, MQ-8B Fire Scout operators, littoral combat ship aviation detachment personnel, NAS North Island alumni, naval aviation collectors, deployment keepsake displays, cruise books, shadow boxes, and anyone preserving the story of the Navy's first composite expeditionary helicopter squadron and the crews who made manned-unmanned teaming a fleet reality.
Magicians heritage, officially licensed, and stitched into leather for the crews who made the impossible standard.
