The Lynx Pair

The team formed in 2001 as the Lynx Pair, flying two Westland Lynx from RNAS Yeovilton, and took the name Black Cats from the cat on the badge of 702 Naval Air Squadron, the Lynx training unit. It was the first official Royal Navy flying display team since the Sharks disbanded in the 1990s, and in 2003 it won the Steedman Display Sword at the Royal International Air Tattoo.

From Lynx to Wildcat

The Lynx was replaced by the AgustaWestland (now Leonardo) AW159 Wildcat from 2014, and for a time the team flew mixed Lynx and Wildcat pairs. As the transition and training load bit, it flew some seasons with a single aircraft, paused in 2017–2018 and cancelled 2020 because of the pandemic. For a period it was styled the Wildcat Demo Team.

Today

As the Royal Navy Black Cats, the team now flies a pair of Wildcat HMA2 helicopters provided by 825 Naval Air Squadron at Yeovilton, the Wildcat training unit, with sponsorship from Leonardo, whose Yeovil factory builds the type. It published schedules for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The Wildcat HMA2 the team displays is the same type that deploys with Royal Navy frigates and destroyers for surface search, attack and humanitarian tasks.