A U.S. Navy aviator recently became the first American woman to win an air-to-air combat battle. SaidThe fighter pilot, whose identity has not been released, received the honor for shooting down a Houthi drone, one of dozens launched by the rebels. Yemen-based rebel group The navy said the attacks targeted civilian merchant ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters, and the Houthis said they were in direct retaliation for the devastation in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The pilot flew an F/A-18 Super Hornet military attack aircraft during a nine-month combat deployment from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to the Navy. She was part of a group of men and women attached to Fighter Attack Squadron 32, nicknamed the “Flying Swordsmen.” The Eisenhower was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to admit female pilots to its crew in 1994, according to the Navy. National Air and Space Museum.
“During one mission, VFA-32 was home to the first American female pilot to shoot down an aircraft in air-to-air combat,” the Navy said. Said.
It was unclear exactly when the pilot shot down the drone, but the Navy said that during the deployment, the squadron fired more than 20 air-to-air missiles at a one-way Houthi attack drone targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
The Navy announced that Fighter Attack Squadron 32 concluded its deployment earlier this month and returned to Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach on July 14, calling the mission “historic.”
“The success of the entire squadron over the past nine months is a testament to every member of our command and the friends and families back home who support them,” Lt. Col. Jason Hock, 32nd Fighter Squadron commander, said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more proud of the performance our Swordsmen demonstrated every day in incredibly challenging conditions. We have proven time and time again that the flexibility a Carrier Strike Group brings to the fight is unmatched, and it’s all thanks to our highly trained and motivated Sailors who go above and beyond the call of duty every day.”
The squadron flew more than 3,000 hours and flew more than 1,500 combat missions during the deployment, which the Navy said was unprecedented, as it served in Operations Inherent Resolve and Guardian of Prosperity, U.S. operations against the Islamic State and the terrorist organization Islamic State. Houthi-led attacks on ships The Navy said it has engaged in combat with attack drones in and around the Red Sea, as well as two strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters increased in November and have continued since then, all of which are important international shipping corridors. Like Hamas, the Yemeni rebels are backed by Iran. At least two of the group’s drone attacks in the region are believed to have caused the deaths of sailors, the most recent of which was Houthi attacks The attack happened on a cargo ship in the Red Sea that sank in June. The Associated Press reported at the time that one person was killed in the attack. U.S. officials previously said New Houthi attack At least three people were killed and four injured in a fire on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden in March.
—Haley Ott contributed reporting.
