| Unit Name: | Air Transport Squadron 61 |
| Native Name: | 第61航空隊 |
| Dates: | 20 December 1971 |
| Command Structure: | Fleet Air Force |
| Colours: | --> |
| Colours Label: | --> |
(also referred to as VC-61 or Fleet Air Squadron 61) is a unit in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force. It is a part of the Fleet Air Force and is based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa prefecture.[1] [2] It operates LC-90 and Lockheed C-130R Hercules aircraft.
The squadron was founded at Atsugi Naval Air Facility on December 20, 1971 equipped with NAMC YS-11 aircraft. In 1989 it began to operate the LC-90, and in November 2014 the unit began to operate five former Lockheed Martin KC-130R tanker aircraft of the US Marine Corps. They were stripped of their refueling equipment and redesigned as C-130R aircraft.[3] In December 2014 the squadron's YS-11s were retired. The former US C-130s came into service from 2014 to 2016.[4]
In the past the squadron has also operated Grumman S-2F-U Tracker, Douglas C-27 Skytrain RFD-6 and Beechcraft B65 Queen Air aircraft.