The US Navys (USNs) newest combat aircraft, the Boeing F/A-18E
Super Hornet, made its combat debut on 6 November, when aircraft
from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln struck
air-defence sites in southern Iraq.
Flying from the northern Arabian Gulf in support of the US-UK
Operation Southern Watch (OSW), aircraft from Strike Fighter
Squadron VFA-115 dropped four global positioning system-guided
Joint Direct Attack Munitions on two Iraqi surface-to-air missile
launchers at Al Kut and on a command-and-control facility at Talil.
These actions were followed by further Super Hornet strikes on 7
and 10 November.
USN officers told JDW that all munitions hit their intended
targets, which US Central Command said were attacked in response to
anti-aircraft fire against allied aircraft patrolling the southern
no fly zone. Describing the aircrafts first strikes as "accurate
and effective", Cdr Dale Horan, executive officer of VFA-115, said:
"The F/A-18E is doing better than expected and we expected it to do
very well."
The intensity of Iraqi ground fire has risen "significantly" over
recent weeks, according to Capt Kevin Albright, who commands the
Abraham Lincolns Carrier Air Wing 14 (CVW-14), with hostile forces
"really trying hard [to shoot down our aircraft]". The increased
level of response to such action is in line with US Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfelds decision last September to step up
retaliation, he said. Noting that the target-set available to
allied aircraft has since been altered, Capt Albright says: "We are
now going after more substantive targets than two years ago.
Dropping a bomb on [a command] bunker is always more significant
than an S-60 anti-aircraft gun."
Aircraft assigned to CVW-14 currently contribute around 30-40% of
the sorties flown during OSW, with the remainder conducted by UK
Royal Air Force, US Air Force and USN assets in-theatre.