Drone Destroyed: U.S. Navy Pilots Becomes First Female to Score Air-to-Air Kill

Summary and Key Points: In a historic achievement, an unnamed female pilot from the U.S. Navy's Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32 "Flying Swordsmen" downed a Houthi attack drone in the Red Sea, marking the first air-to-air kill by an American woman.

-Piloting an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), she engaged the drone amid ongoing threats to merchant ships by the Iran-backed militant group.

-VFA-32, during its nine-month deployment, flew over 3,000 combat hours, completed 1,500 combat missions, and targeted Houthi positions in Yemen with nearly 120 precision-guided munitions.

Historic Win: Female Navy Pilot Scores First Air-to-Air Kill in Red Sea

An unnamed female pilot serving with the U.S. Navy's Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32 "Flying Swordsmen" scored an air-to-air kill while deployed in the Red Sea aboard the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). The pilot was the first American woman ever to score such a victory, the Navy announced earlier this month.

The aviator was piloting a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, and she reportedly engaged and downed a one-way Houthi attack drone – one of dozens that the Iran-backed militant group fired at merchant ships in the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait earlier this year.

The Flying Swordsmen Cut Down Numerous Drones

During a nearly nine-month deployment to the Middle East on CVN-69, the Virginia-based U.S. Navy fighter squadron, which operates a dozen F/A-18F aircraft as part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, flew more than 3,000 combat hours and completed nearly 1,500 combat missions in support of Pentagon Operations Inherent Resolve and Prosperity Guardian.

According to the Navy, the squadron fired nearly two dozen air-to-air missiles against the Houthis’ kamikaze drones. VFA-32 also led two of the seven self-defense strikes targeted at the militant group's positions within Yemen. The attacks destroyed munitions and command and control facilities that were targeting civilian vessels. In total, the Flying Swordsmen successfully targeted the Houthis with nearly 120 precision-guided air-to-surface munitions.

"The success of the entire squadron over the past nine months is a testament to all the members of the command and their friends and family at home that support them," said Cmdr. Jason Hoch, commanding officer of VFA-32. "I couldn't be prouder of the Swordsmen's performance day-in and day-out in incredibly demanding conditions. We proved over and over again that the flexibility a carrier strike group brings to the fight is unmatched, and that is solely due to the highly trained and motivated Sailors who go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day."

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower returned to Norfolk, Virginia, earlier this month after seeing her deployment to the Middle East extended twice. 

Female Aviation Pioneers

As noted, the Navy hasn't disclosed the name of the pilot, but as CNN reported, this first air-to-air victory by a female aviator comes "30 years after Lt. Kara ‘She-Hulk’ Hultgreen became the first carrier-based female fighter pilot in the Navy." Hultgreen flew the F-14 Tomcat off the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in 1994. Tragically, she crashed into the sea just months after being certified for combat.

In that same year, Navy Lt. Kimberly "Face" Dyson became the first female fighter pilot to fly in a combat mission, during Operation Southern Watch, the U.S. effort to enforce a no-fly zone in Iraq. Dyson's role in the mission was finally revealed last December by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Air & Space Quarterly.

Hopefully, it won't take nearly 30 years for the pilot from the Flying Swordsmen to be acknowledged publicly.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu 

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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