The US Marine Corps shows off some of its aircraft in a spectacular video

On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress held in Philadelphia approved the creation of two Marine battalions.

A large black bat painted on a United States Marine Corps F-35B in Japan
A great demonstration of a Marine Harrier II in Cleveland before its farewell

That was the birth of the Continental Marines, the first U.S. marine force, consisting of 2,000 enlisted men and 131 officers. The force was eventually disbanded in April 1783 and reestablished on July 11, 1798 as the current U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) under President John Adams. Despite this 15-year gap, the USMC regards November 10, 1775 as its founding date, inheriting the history of the Continental Marines and celebrating its anniversary on that day.

Today, the USMC is the largest naval infantry force in the world. Its ranks include 180,000 enlisted Marines and 23,000 officers. In addition, this Corps has a long history of war and has earned a great reputation, being one of the most appreciated branches of service in its country. On the occasion of this anniversary, the Marines have published a spectacular video remembering their history and also reviewing some of their past and present aircraft:

The United States Marine Corps Aviation (USMCA) was founded in 1912 to support USMC expeditionary forces. Today it operates more than 1,200 aircraft, the majority of which are helicopters, although nearly a quarter of them are fighter aircraft.

In the video we can see some of these aircraft from the past and present, although some very famous ones are missing, such as the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat, the F-4U Corsair, the F-4 Phantom II, the UH-1 Huey (and its current variant, the UH-1Y Venom), the CH-46 Sea Knight, the AV-8A Harrier and the AV-8B Harrier II. You can see here some screenshots of the aircraft seen in the video.

A Sikorsky UH-34 Seahorse helicopter, the USMC designation for the H-34 Choctaw. This model was one of the first helicopters sent by the USMC to the Vietnam War, being replaced by the UH-1 Huey in the late 1960s.

A formation of four Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. The Marines at one point had 14 squadrons equipped with this model. Unlike the US Navy, which replaced its Skyhawks with Corsair IIs, the Marines kept them in service until the 1980s, when they were replaced by AV-8 Harrier II fighters.

A Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion. This helicopter model was specifically developed for the USMC and later adopted by other operators. The Marines are replacing them with the more modern CH-53K King Stallion.

A McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet fighter-bomber. This aircraft replaced the USMC's F-4 Phantom IIs beginning in the mid-1980s. The Marines still operate Hornets today (they have never operated the Super Hornet, unlike the Navy) and are currently replacing them with the F-35B.

A Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey convertiplane. By the new millennium, these aircraft had replaced the CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters in USMC carrier units.

A Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. The Marines began operating the model’s predecessor, the AH-1J Sea Cobra, in 1968. The USMC later acquired a modernized version, the AH-1T. In the mid-1980s, the Marines began receiving the AH-1W Super Cobra, from which the current AH-1Z Viper is derived.

A General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle. The Marines have two squadrons equipped with this type of drone, the VMU-1 at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, and the VMU-3 at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. It can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition missions.

A Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II. It is the STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing) version of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter. It has become the Marines' new carrier-based aircraft and is gradually replacing the F/A-18C and AV-8B Harrier II.