Just days ago, the Navy disclosed details about a crash program to give American Super Hornets and Growlers more options and magazine depth to shoot down Houthi drones. Now the service has offered a look at the fruits of those efforts where it matters most, aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). The “IKE,” as it is fondly nicknamed, has been on station in the Gulf of Aden for months as part of the task force working to defend merchant shipping in the region and to degrade the ability of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to continue to threaten that shipping.
The War Zone was first to break the news that the Navy had frantically worked to certify its Super Hornets and Growlers to carry AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles on their outer under-wing stations. Navy Rear Admiral Stephen Tedford, head of Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR) Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, or PEO (U&W), had announced the initiative at the Navy League’s annual Sea Air Space conference earlier this week. You can read more about all of this in our initial reporting here.