List of United States Navy aircraft wings
Type Wings consist of squadrons of a single type of aircraft, they are non-deploying "force providers" that provide combat ready squadrons or detachments to deploying Carrier Air Wings or to other Navy or joint forces.
The table below lists the nine currently active Carrier Air Wings.
The Navy's land based aircraft wings either operate land based aircraft squadrons in various operational or support roles or they provide deployable combat ready squadrons or detachments to Carrier Air Wings or to other Navy or joint forces.
Type and Functional Wings are generally not assigned Tail Codes.
Between 1 July 1938 and the end of World War II approximately 88 more airwings were established.
All newly establishing carrier air groups were designated under this system.
There were two variations of the CVG designation which added a modifying letter between the V and the G to identify those air groups which operated from the smaller Light Carriers (CVLG) and some of the even smaller escort carriers (CVEG).
These night air groups were identified by appending a parenthetical N to the end of the designation "(N)".
In the last months of the war two air groups were established to operate from the new large Midway class "Battle" carriers which were about to join the fleet, these air groups were identified with a "B" between the V and G (CVBG).
There is not necessarily any lineage connection between Carrier Air Groups which shared the same designation.
[1] The seventeen CVGs which were still in existence on 20 December 1963 were on that date redesignated "Carrier Air Wings" (CVW).
There is not necessarily any connection between Carrier Air Groups which shared the same designation.
They were CVG equivalents in every respect but in name but as "temporary" units they were neither formerly "established" or "disestablished" instead they were "formed" and "disbanded."
Land based wings have been established, disestablished or re-designated as the Navy has operated different aircraft through the years since then.
Note: the parenthetical (1st) and (2nd) appended to the two FASW 1 entries are not a part of either wing's designation.
They are added to indicate that the FASW 1 designation was used to designate two separate unrelated wings, the first was the WWII wing and the second was created after the war to operate the Navy's postwar lighter-than-air fleet.
WWII Atlantic Fleet Airship Groups and Wings WWII Pacific Fleet Airship Group/Wing Post WWII Airship Wing From 1955 to 1965 the U.S. Navy operated seaward extensions of the nations Distant Early Warning line (DEW line).
These wings were first established to provide for the training and readiness of nuclear bomber (Heavy Attack - VAH) squadrons assigned to Carrier Air Groups and for squadrons of specialized aircraft equipped with the emerging technologies of airborne search radar (Carrier Airborne Early Warning - VAW) squadrons or electronic warfare (Tactical Electronic Warfare - VAQ) squadrons.
The wing construct eventually grew to include all Carrier Air Wing type squadrons and other sea going squadrons which provided helicopter detachments to surface ships.
When the Navy began including nuclear bombers (Heavy Attack Squadron – VAH) in Carrier Air Groups In the 1950s it became necessary to create a subordinate command between the Fleet Air command and the Heavy Attack Squadrons specifically focused on providing the specialized training to crews and to ensure the upkeep of aircraft required for the safe and effective conduct of this special mission.
“Heavy Attack Wings” were organized under a Fleet Air command to do this.
Similarly, by 1950 Carrier Airborne Early Warning (VAW) squadrons 11 and 12 were providing detachments of aircraft equipped with the emerging technologies of airborne search radar and electronic warfare systems to Carrier Air Groups, and in 1959 a third VAW squadron (VAW-13) split out of VAW-11 to concentrate on electronic warfare.
By 1967 VAW-11 and VAW-12 had grown so large that they were elevated to wing status and their detachments were established as squadrons.
These new Carrier Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare wings were organized as special mission wings under the Fleet Air commands where they were based and ensured their squadrons were ready and capable of executing their unique roles when attached to their Carrier Air Wings for deployment.
