• US Navy fighter jets have fought Houthi drones in a high-tempo operating environment over the Red Sea.

• A first-of-its-kind battle in early 2024 highlighted another air-defense option for the Navy.

• The Navy eventually added more air-to-air missiles to its F/A-18 fighter jets.

US Navy fighter jets fought a first-of-its-kind air battle against enemy drones over the Red Sea early last year. Then, months later, American jets were seen flying with a new missile loadout.

The fight was the first successful naval engagement of an enemy drone with an air-to-air missile. It showed what was possible, setting the stage for the Navy to give its F/A-18s a greater air-defense role with a new heavy air-to-air "Murder Hornet" configuration.

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Unit award documents obtained by BI show that on January 9, 2024, units from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group were patrolling Red Sea shipping lanes when Houthi rebels launched a large-scale attack with drones and anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles.

Two Navy destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Mason — engaged five of the drones, while a third destroyer, USS Laboon, engaged two anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile.

Meanwhile, aircraft launched from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — the lead ship in the strike group — to help confront the threat. The aircraft from Carrier Air Wing- 3 engaged five drones, marking the first successful naval engagement of a hostile drone with an air-to-air missile, one of the documents said.

The document said that "following the successful engagement" of the drone, the conventional loadout on the F/A-18 fighter jet was changed to support drone defense with more cost-effective weapons "while saving higher-end ordnance for more significant threats."

"Higher-end ordnance" appears to reference surface-to-air missiles launched from American warships.

These weapons can intercept drones, but they are significantly more expensive than missiles launched from a fighter jet. Ship-based interceptors such as the Standard Missile-series interceptors are better suited, from a cost perspective, to taking down enemy ballistic and cruise missiles rather than cheaper drones.

A Navy official told BI that the F/A-18 loadout was changed because of a range of lessons the sea service learned during the Houthi conflict. They said the fighter jets were eventually given more air-to-air munitions. Specifically, they were armed with a new configuration of four AIM-9X and five AIM-120 missiles.

Senior Navy officials have previously said that the new munitions configuration offered greater, much-needed firepower for the counter-drone fight in the Red Sea.

The AIM-9X is the newest model in the Sidewinder family of short-range missiles. The AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) is a beyond-visual-range weapon. Both munitions are made by American defense contractor RTX Corporation.

The office of the Chief of Naval Operations later identified a Boeing-made F/A-18 with a nine-missile configuration as a "Murder Hornet," a play on the fighter jet's actual name, the Super Hornet.

The CNO's office confirmed the new loadout was used in combat last year. It was first spotted on an F/A-18 during flight operations on the Eisenhower in the Red Sea in April 2024, as the Ike and the other ships in its strike group were deployed to the Middle East to confront the Houthis and their attacks on shipping lanes.

The conflict with the Houthis has been described as a complex, high-tempo operating environment, especially during Eisenhower's deployment. The January 2024 incident demonstrated what the F/A-18 could do against enemy drones, as these aircraft went on to destroy more during the deployment.

US forces have intercepted nearly 500 Houthi drones since the conflict began in October 2023. In March 2024, F/A-18 Super Hornets were spotted sporting drone and missile kill markings.

The Eisenhower carrier strike group fired nearly 800 munitions, including almost 60 air-to-air missiles, during its monthslong Middle East deployment, which ended last summer. Documents reviewed showed that the strike group as a whole was recommended for a Combat Action Ribbon for its actions between October 2023 and May 2024.

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