A little over a week later, the US launched more unilateral strikes on eight Houthi targets, including an underground storage site and key missile and air surveillance locations.
"These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners," the US, UK, and its allies said in a joint statement following the strikes.
Ready for takeoffAn F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet takes off on the flight deck of USS Eisenhower.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kaitlin Watt
Videos showed the aircraft blasting from the flight deck of the Eisenhower in the dead of night.
F/A-18 Super HornetAn F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet takes off on the flight deck of USS Eisenhower.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary Elmore
Among the aircraft aboard the Eisenhower is the F/A-18 Super Hornet, a twin-engine supersonic fighter jet that can be armed with air-to-surface missiles and bombs.
The combat jet can travel at Mach 1.8 (about 1,380 mph) and fly a range of 1,275 nautical miles and altitudes higher than 50,000 feet. There are two versions of the Super Hornet — a two-seater F model and a single-seat E model, like the one shown above.
E/A-18G GrowlerAn E/A-18G Growler prepares to take off from the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary Elmore
The E/A-18G Growler, a variant of the F/A-18 Superhornet, was also used in the airstrikes. The US Navy is the sole operator of the Growler, though it is sometimes cooperatively operated by Australian armed forces.
The two-seater electronic warfare jet can reach altitudes of up to 50,000 feet and has a range of 850 nautical miles with its full payload. It can carry two Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), up to three radar jamming pods, and three air-to-surface tactical missiles.
It can also carry two 480-gallon external fuel tanks.
E-2C HawkeyeAn E-2C Hawkeye on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
US Central Command Public Affairs courtesy photo
The E-2C Hawkeye is an all-weather, twin-turboprop tactical aircraft dubbed the "eyes of the fleet." It can carry up to five crewmembers and has a massive radar above its fuselage that helps the aircraft to serve airborne early warning and battle management tasks.
First operational in 1973, the Hawkeye was the first carrier-based aircraft "designed from the outset for the all-weather airborne early warning and command and control mission," according to the US Navy.
