EA-18G Growler Killed A Houthi Mi-24 Hind With An AGM-88E Anti-Radiation Missile
The Navy on Thursday confirmed to The War Zone that a one of its EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft used an AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) to destroy a Mi-24/35 Hind attack helicopter. This confirms a possible explanation we suggested when a mysterious “kill mark” of a Hind appeared on a Growler deployed aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) in a photo that was released on May 15. The engagement also likely highlights the AARGM's unique precision strike capabilities against non-radiating targets.
"The first instance of AARGM use in combat was from an E/A-18G deployed on Ike, during this current deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet region," a Navy official told us. The official could not say if that engagement was the same as the one that earned a Growler its Hind kill mark.
We initially posited that the kill likely involved an AARGM.
“The Hind was reportedly struck on the ground, which is strange for a Growler,” The War Zone editor-in-chief Tyler Rogoway tweeted May 16. “Best guess: they fired AARGM to hit coordinates, not home in on emissions, which it's capable of. It is a good time-sensitive target effector in this way. We'll find out more.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ea-18g-growler-killed-a-houthi-mi-24-hind-with-an-agm-88e-anti-radiation-missile/ar-BB1nLk6A?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=b7375b9f3c4c4e108798a1536e5c0dde&ei=50
