Amid conflicts in the Middle East, an American Navy fighter pilot became the first United States woman to shoot down an aerial target. Piloting an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter, the still-unidentified aviator shot down a drone belonging to the Houthi rebels, a Yemeni group ed by Iran.
The milestone was announced by the Navy on 14/07, when the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) returned to the US after a voyage that began in October 2023. During the nine-month deployment, the ship participated in operations Inherent Resolve, against the Islamic State, and Prosperity Guardian, against Yemeni rebels.
It was in one of several Houthi attacks against American troops and international shipping that the American pilot shot down a drone. The action marks the first time an American woman has shot down another aircraft in combat. The aviator is part of the VFA-32 Fighting Swordsmen, one of four fighter and attack squadrons embarked on CVN-69.
In a statement, the Navy says that during the “unprecedented” operational tour, VFA-32 accumulated more than 3000 hours and 1500 combat sorties in operations in the Middle East.
“The squadron deployed more than 20 air-to-air missiles against Houthi one-way attack drones, which were targeting civilian merchant ships in the Red Sea and Bab-al-Mandeb Strait. During one mission, VFA-32 became the first American pilot unit to engage and destroy an air-to-air target.”, points out the release.
Also, VFA-32 airmen coordinated two of the seven strikes against Yemeni Houthi targets. In these actions, the military used almost 120 precision air-to-ground munitions, such as laser-guided bombs and GPS, “destroying munitions and command and control facilities that were used to target civilian vessels.”
“The success of the entire squadron over the last nine months is a testament to every member of the command and their friends and family back home who them.”, said Commander Jason Hoch, commanding officer of VFA-32. For the officer, the squad's actions are proof of “The flexibility that a carrier strike group brings to the fight is unparalleled, and that is solely due to the highly trained and motivated Sailors who go above and beyond the call of duty every day.”
With the return of the aircraft carrier Eisenhower and its battle group, the Pentagon deployed the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt to take over operations against the Houthis and Islamic State.
Although the identity of the naval aviator has not yet been revealed, an image circulating on X (formerly Twitter) has been shared as being of the pilot. It shows a woman dressed as a fighter pilot aboard an aircraft carrier, with a VFA-18 F/A-32 in the background.
VFA-32 aboard The Mighty Ike has a historic aviator aboard. The first Female US Combat Aviator to score an air kill. pic.twitter.com/Gf8tij0FPu
— Animarchy History 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇵🇸 (@AnimarchyYT) July 21, 2024
The aviator's drone shooting comes about 30 years after Lt. Kara Hultgreen became the first woman to pilot a fighter jet in the U.S. Navy. In July 1994, Kara was qualified to command the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, at the time the United States' premier naval fighter aircraft. Unfortunately, the pioneering aviator died in October of that same year while trying to land the F-14 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Today, the US Navy has the F/A-18 Super Hornet as its main fighter and attack vector. The model manufactured by Boeing replaced the F-14 in 2006 and more recently was one of the protagonists of the Blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
The VFA-32 specifically employs the F/A-18F, a two-seat version of the jet that. The Super Hornet is capable of reaching 1900 km/h, is armed with a 20 mm rotary cannon and has 11 hard points to carry missiles, bombs, rockets and sensors. In addition to the US Navy, the F/A-18 Super Hornet also serves the Royal Australian Air Force.
