The “Magicians” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 are the Navy’s first composite expeditionary helicopter squadron, and had their first deployment aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) during her maiden 16-month rotational deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. HSM-35 is a self-contained portion of the surface warfare mission package on Fort Worth consisting of one MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and one MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system. They fly the venerable MH-60R Sea Hawk platform which is a tried and true maritime asset with primary missions of surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.
