Thrasher Over Mobile Bay

A US Navy TH-73A Thrasher flies along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay late Sunday morning JUL 26 2026. Built in Pennsylvania by Leonardo USA, the Thrasher is used for training pilots for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The Navy’s first Thrasher enters service in AUG 2021 at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, FL. Thrashers cost somewhere between $4.2 million and $5.5 million based on Navy procurement contracts, but the actual unit cost varies since spare parts, support and training services can be bundled with production lots of the aircraft. Named after the Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo USA is a division of Leonardo S.p.A., a multinational company based in Rome, specializing in aerospace, defense and security. Photo shot from Fairhope, roughly half a mile from the aircraft…