Navy Aviator Makes History as First Woman to Kill Air-to-Air Contact in Combat

A Navy aviator has become the first woman U.S. pilot to engage and kill an air-to-air contact in combat, the Navy announced last week. The unnamed pilot, a member of the strike fighter squadron known as the "Fighting Swordsmen," achieved the milestone against an attack drone deployed by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The squadron was deployed aboard the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, which was sent to the Middle East in response to the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7. During their nine-month combat deployment, the Fighting Swordsmen completed nearly 1,500 combat missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Prosperity Guardian.

Cmdr. Jason Hoch, commander of the Fighting Swordsmen, praised the squadron's performance, saying, "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." He added, “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.”

Throughout their deployment, the Fighting Swordsmen fired more than 20 air-to-air missiles against Houthi one-way attack drones in the Red Sea and Bab-al-Mandeb Strait. The group also led two of seven "self-defense strikes" into parts of Houthi-controlled Yemen, destroying munitions and command and control facilities used to target civilian vessels. The carrier strike group returned to Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia on July 14, marking the end of their deployment.