Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team Black Cats

The Black Cats are the Royal Navy’s Helicopter Display Team flying front-line Lynx maritime attack helicopters. The aircrew and engineers are all volunteers from 702 Naval Air Squadron and the Lynx / Wildcat Maritime Force based at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset.

The Team started in 2001 as the ‘Lynx Pair’ and have been the first official Royal Navy flying display team since the ‘Sharks’ disbanded in the mid-1990s. The name ‘Black Cats’ is derived from the fierce cat depicted on the 702 Naval Air Squadron emblem and the term ‘blackcatting’ which is naval slang for one-upmanship – doing or owning something better than someone else.

Owing to the draw-down of the Lynx fleet as the Wildcat enters service, the Black Cats performed single-aircraft Lynx displays during the 2013 airshow season. For 2014, selected events featured the pair display, for the first time consisting of the Lynx HMA8 and the new AW159 Wildcat HMA2. Since them, the Black Cats have been doing solo appearances with the Lynx until returning in 2019 as the Royal Navy Wildcat Demo Team with a solo display.

The Royal Navy Wildcat Demo Team is set to return for the 2021 season.