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A U.S. Navy electronic warfare aircraft has shot down an enemy aircraft in the first air-to-air combat during combat against the Houthi rebels, the Navy said.
The pilot of the fatally damaged EA-18G Growler had been a member of Electronic Attack Squadron 130 (VAQ-130) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower for several months, which had recently returned to its home port in Washington state after an extended combat deployment in the Middle East.
In volatile regions, the squadron operated in coordination with other elements of the Carrier Air Wing, providing critical aviation capability to the Navy as it vigorously defended commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from persistent Houthi attacks.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group announced that its aircraft conducted multiple strikes against Iranian-backed rebel forces in Yemen and flew hundreds of combat missions to degrade their capabilities. statement The announcement was made on Sunday. VAQ-130 also became “the first Growler squadron in Navy history to achieve an air-to-air kill.”
Growler is Modified variants An improved version of the F/A-18F Super Hornet with advanced electronic warfare capabilities, equipped with tactical jamming pods and AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missiles, designed to capture electronic communications from radar systems.
The aircraft is also equipped with AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, a beyond visual range weapon that may have been used in the Navy-credited kill.
The Navy did not say what Houthi threat the Growler had eliminated, but defense media outlet The Warzone reported that a video shared by the Eisenhower’s captain appeared to show drone down markings on the side of the Growler as it was parked on the Ike’s flight deck. It pointed outOther aircraft with similar silhouettes have been spotted during deployment.
Eisenhower’s carrier air wing consisted of Growlers and Super Hornets, as well as E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft and helicopters.
As of May, the Eisenhower’s carrier air wing had been engaged in dropping more than 350 air-to-surface weapons and more than 50 air-to-air missiles, Navy officials said, and by the time the strike group left the region in late June, the wing had Over 30,000 hours Flight hours spanning thousands of sorties.
The Navy said VAQ-130 pilots witnessed “malign and indiscriminate use” of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles and one-way attack drones by the Houthis, and supported the firing of more than 120 Standard missiles and dozens of Tomahawk land attack missiles.
The squadron’s commander on Sunday praised the pilots’ combat efforts after “nine months of operations in a sustained weapons-fired zone” in what the Navy described as a “historic” deployment.
“I can’t remember when the Navy has experienced such a challenging deployment, with the combination of multiple extensions, severely limited opportunities for rest and relaxation, and true combat,” said Lt. Col. Carl Ellsworth, “the most intense maritime action since World War II, not only for our aviators, but for the entire strike group’s crew as well.”
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