Ten US Marine Corps (USMC)-operated F/A-18C Hornets – assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323) ‘Death Rattlers’ arrived in Europe on June 8 for an operational deployment.
Using the callsign ‘MAZDA 11’, the ten legacy Hornets were supported by a pair of US Air Force (USAF)-operated KC-135 Stratotankers – serials 60-00331 (callsign ‘GOLD 63’) and 58-0109 (callsign ‘GOLD 73’) – which provided air-to-air refuelling services during the transatlantic flight. On approach into Europe, five of the ten Hornets arrived at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in South Ayrshire, Scotland, in the evening of June 8, along with KC-135 (60-00331) and another support aircraft – a KC-130J Hercules (BuNo 170272) from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) ‘Raiders’.
