Yemen Monitor/Washington/Exclusive:
The US Navy’s Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) deployed a fifth-generation fighter jet earlier this month to strike weapons storage facilities, which housed anti-ship missiles used to target military and cargo vessels in the Red Sea.
The fighter jet was launched from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, according to the US military publication, Defense Post.
Yemen Monitor had previously observed the use of US fighter jets in mid-November.
VMFA-314 commanding officer Lt. Col. Jeffrey Davis said, “The F-35C demonstrated its warfighting advantage by transiting contested airspace and striking targets in the heart of Houthi territory over multiple days.” He added, “Marines are honored to be the first to fight with the F-35C.”
The escalating US strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen are a direct response to the group’s ongoing attacks on Red Sea shipping. Earlier this month, two US destroyers were targeted with Houthi drones and missiles while transiting the Bab el-Mandab Strait. In March, three sailors were killed in a Houthi attack on a commercial ship in the Red Sea.
Since then, the US military has conducted numerous overnight strikes on Houthi facilities, including those in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a.
