This Is the US Marine Corps’ Most Popular Aircraft

24/7 Wall St. Insights

• As of 2022, the Marine Corps has 177,200 active-duty men and women.
• The U.S. Marine Corps has incredibly versatile aircraft in its arsenal.

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The U.S. Marine Corps was originally formed on November 10, 1775, when Navy officials decided that “two battalions” were needed as landing forces. Less than a year later, this special group of troops embarked on its first amphibious raid, which took place in the Bahamas.

As of 2022, 177,200 active-duty men and women are part of this elite military force. The duties of the Marine Corps include defending advanced naval bases and developing tactics for amphibious landings. To be successful in their duties, the U.S. Marine Corps has several aircraft in its arsenal.

The most widely used Marine Corps aircraft is the MV-22 Osprey. This aircraft is incredibly versatile, which is why the Marines rely so heavily on it. It is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, which allows it to perform a variety of missions and transport troops in a number of environments.

The MV-22 Osprey was originally developed by Boeing and entered service in 2007. It used a twin-engine configuration which it can toggle from helicopter to aircraft in mid-flight. The Osprey can hit speeds over 300 mph and has an operational range of over 1,000 miles. This is just one of many aircraft used by the Marine Corps.

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at the aircraft used by the Marine Corps. To identify the most widely used aircraft by the U.S. Marine Corps, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the 2024 World Air Forces report from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry website, and ranked the aircraft by the number of units in active service. Additionally, we’ve included supplemental information on the type of aircraft, how many are in active service, top speed and armament. We have excluded training aircraft and helicopters from this list.

There are a number of other aircraft with the Marine Corps‘ arsenal, each playing a unique and important role for the functionality of the military as a whole.

Why We Are Covering This

On average, the U.S. spends $400 billion a year on the operation and support of its military units. In 2024, $5.7 billion was budgeted to the Marines Corps for aviation readiness. Overall, the Department of Defense has $2.02 trillion in budgetary resources, which is 14.6% of the federal budget for 2024.

Here is a look at the most active aircraft in the U.S. Marine Corps:

15. C-20 Gulfstream IV

• Type: Military VIP passenger transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1983
• Active aircraft: 1
• Top speed: 582 mph
• Armament: N/A

14. T-34 Mentor

• Type: Basic trainer / light attack aircraft
• Year introduced: 1953
• Active aircraft: 2
• Top speed: 322 mph
• Armament: 1,200 lbs. of drop ordnance

13. Citation Encore/Sovereign/Ultra

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 2004
• Active aircraft: 10
• Top speed: 490 mph
• Armament: N/A

12. CH-53K King Stallion

• Type: Heavy-lift transport helicopter
• Year introduced: 2018
• Active aircraft: 11
• Top speed: 196 mph
• Armament: 12.7mm heavy machine guns, 12.7mm GAU-21 miniguns

11. F-5 Freedom Fighter

• Type: Lightweight multirole aircraft
• Year introduced: 1962
• Active aircraft: 12
• Top speed: 1,077 mph
• Armament: 20mm M39A2 automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, Maverick missiles, rocket pods, drop bombs, cluster bombs, nuclear drop bombs

10. C-12 Huron

• Type: Special mission aircraft
• Year introduced: 1974
• Active aircraft: 15
• Top speed: 332 mph
• Armament: N/A

9. C-40 Clipper

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 2001
• Active aircraft: 17
• Top speed: 544 mph
• Armament: N/A

8. KC-130 Super Hercules

• Type: Aerial tanker / transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1962
• Active aircraft: 69
• Top speed: 416 mph
• Armament: N/A

7. AV-8B+ Harrier II

• Type: Short take-off and vertical landing strike aircraft
• Year introduced: 1985
• Active aircraft: 99
• Top speed: 665 mph
• Armament: 30mm ADEN cannons, drop bombs, laser-guided bombs, Maverick missiles, Harpoon missiles, cluster munitions, Sidewinder missiles, AMRAAM missiles, joint direct attack munitions

6. UH-1Y Venom

• Type: Medium-lift utility / transport helicopter
• Year introduced: 2009
• Active aircraft: 127
• Top speed: 190 mph
• Armament: 7.62mm machine guns, 12.7mm GAU-16/A gatling guns, hydra rocket pods

5. CH-53E Super Stallion

• Type: Super heavy-lift transport helicopter
• Year introduced: 1981
• Active aircraft: 135
• Top speed: 196 mph
• Armament: 12.7mm heavy machine guns, 12.7mm GAU-21 miniguns

4. F-35 Lightning II

• Type: Multirole fifth generation strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 2016
• Active aircraft: 145
• Top speed: 1,199 mph
• Armament: 25mm GAU-12/U cannon in external pod, Sidewinder missiles, Paveway guided bombs, Rockeye II bombs, Brimstone missiles, Storm Shadow missiles, drop bombs

3. AH-1Z Viper

• Type: Twin-engine attack helicopter
• Year introduced: 2010
• Active aircraft: 176
• Top speed: 255 mph
• Armament: 20mm M196 cannon, Hellfire missiles, air-to-surface missiles, Sidewinder missiles, Hydra rocket pods

2. F/A-18 Hornet

• Type: Carrier-based strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1983
• Active aircraft: 186
• Top speed: 1,190 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon, Sidewinder missiles, Sparrow missiles, Maverick missiles, Harpoon missiles, HARM missiles, laser-guided / precision drop bombs, gun pods, rocket pods, nuclear-tipped ordnance

1. MV-22 Osprey

• Type: Tilt-rotor VTOL aircraft
• Year introduced: 2007
• Active aircraft: 288
• Top speed: 316 mph
• Armament: 7.62mm machine guns, 12.7mm machine guns

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