Authentic VX-9 Vampires VANDY-1 Embroidered Shoulder Patch

Description

Official VX-9 Vampires VANDY-1 Shoulder Patches — The Blackest Jet on the Flight Line

Because when your squadron tests weapons for a living, your flagship should look the part.

VX-9, the Vampires, is the Navy’s premier Air Test and Evaluation Squadron, based at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California. Formed from the 1994 merger of VX-4 “Evaluators” and VX-5 “Vampires,” the squadron operates F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, and F-35C Lightning IIs to test every weapon, sensor, and piece of mission software before it reaches the fleet. The “VANDY-1” callsign traces back to VX-4’s legendary all-black flagship Phantom — the famous “Black Bunny” — which flew in formation with an SR-71 Blackbird in an iconic 1972 photograph. In 2023, VX-9 revived the tradition by painting a Super Hornet in the gloss black VANDY-1 scheme for their 30th anniversary, minus the bunny but with all the attitude. These shoulder patches carry that heritage.

Perfect For: VX-9 Vampires aircrew and maintainers, NAWS China Lake personnel, weapons test community veterans, and anyone who appreciates that the coolest paint scheme in naval aviation belongs to a test squadron.

They test the weapons. They set the standard. And their flagship jet is blacker than your coffee.

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