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    A US electronic attack aircraft that battled the Houthis scored its first-ever air-to-air kill, Navy reveals

    By Jake Epstein,

    2024-07-16

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=29OWbk_0uTKaLAh00

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3dDNrx_0uTKaLAh00
    An EA-18G Growler aircraft, attached to Electronic Attack Squadron 130, taking off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea.
    • The EA-18G Growler got its first air-to-air kill during the US Navy's counter-Houthi mission.
    • The electronic-warfare aircraft was deployed for months aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
    • It would have used an AIM-120 air-to-air missile to intercept the unspecified threat.

    A US Navy electronic-warfare aircraft scored its first-ever air-to-air kill battling the Houthis, the sea service has said.

    The EA-18G Growler pilot who took the kill shot spent months aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of Electronic Attack Squadron 130, or VAQ-130. The squadron has just returned to its homeport in Washington state after a lengthy combat deployment to the Middle East.

    In the volatile region, the squadron worked alongside other elements of the carrier air wing, providing the Navy with crucial airborne capabilities as it tirelessly defended commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from relentless Houthi attacks .

    The squadron conducted multiple strikes targeting the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen and carried out hundreds of combat missions to degrade their capabilities, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group said in a statement on Sunday. VAQ-130 also became "the first Growler squadron in Navy history to score an air-to-air kill," it said.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1liQph_0uTKaLAh00
    An EA-18G Growler taking off from the flight deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf in November.

    The Growler is a modified variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet that includes sophisticated electronic-warfare capabilities. It's armed with tactical jamming pods and AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missiles that are designed to home in on electronic transmissions that come from radar systems.

    The aircraft is also equipped with AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, a beyond-visual-range weapon that would have been used to score the kill acknowledged by the Navy.

    The Navy didn't specify what Houthi threat the Growler eliminated; however, a video shared by the Eisenhower's commanding officer appeared to show a drone kill marking on the side of a Growler sitting on the Ike's flight deck, as the defense outlet The War Zone pointed out. Other aircraft have been spotted with similar silhouettes painted on them during the deployment.

    Beyond the Growlers and Super Hornets, the Eisenhower's carrier air wing also consisted of an E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft and helicopters.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4cSKG1_0uTKaLAh00
    EA-18G Growlers participating in flight operations above the Persian Gulf.

    As of May, the Eisenhower's carrier air wing had been involved in the release of more than 350 air-to-surface weapons and more than 50 air-to-air missiles, according to Navy officials, and by the time the strike group left the region in late June, the air wing had logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time across thousands of sorties.

    The Navy said VAQ-130 aviators saw "malicious, indiscriminate use" of Houthi anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles and one-way attack drones and supported the launch of more than 120 Standard Missiles and dozens of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.

    The squadron's commanding officer on Sunday praised his aviators for their combat work after facing what the Navy described as a "historic" deployment of "nine months of operations in a persistent weapons engagement zone."

    "I can't remember the last time the Navy had a more challenging deployment with a combination of multiple extensions, severely limited opportunities for R&R, and true combat," Cmdr. Carl Ellsworth said. "Not just for aviators, but the crew of the whole strike group as well, in the most kinetic action at sea since World War II."

    Read the original article on Business Insider

    Related Search

    Air-To-Air killElectronic warfareMilitary technologyHouthi attacksElectronic attack squadron 130Us Navy

    Comments / 69

    Add a Comment
    fastone942
    07-20
    the only weapon the EA-18G does not have in a Gun outside of the it can carry most of the same missile the Super Hornet has funny for drone lot cheaper to use a 20mm Round on it then a missile
    Rose
    07-19
    Bravo Zulu! welcome home!! 💞
    View all comments

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