EA-18G Bristles With Rare Four Anti-Radiation Missile Loadout On Yemen Mission
Imagery has emerged of a rarely seen EA-18G Growler electronic attack jet loadout involving four examples of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), or possibly the earlier older AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), during ongoing operations against Houthi targets in Yemen. While many details of the Houthi air defenses and their associated radars and sensors remain murky, the imagery underscores the continued threat that they present. We have a deep dive into the Houthi's air defenses coming soon. However, it's also worth noting that the AARGM can be used against certain other targets, including ground targets not related to air defenses.
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) continues 24/7 operations against the Iran-backed Houthis #HouthisAreTerrorists pic.twitter.com/6FcZHKG4HY
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 21, 2025
The imagery was published today in the form of a video posted to X by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). This shows an EA-18G Growler assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 144 (VAQ-144), 'Main Battery,' launching from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). As well as the four anti-radiation missiles, the aircraft is also carrying a pair of AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and three 480-gallon external fuel tanks.
EA-18Gs are regularly seen with a pair of anti-radiation missiles carried under their wings, including on operations against the Houthis, although a set of four is far less common. More typically, the other stations are given over to the various jamming pods that the Growler carries and which you can read about in more detail here. Nevertheless, this remains an established, albeit rarely seen, loadout for the EA-18G and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Even the legacy F/A-18C/D can carry anti-radiation missiles on its outboard underwing stations, too.
EA-18Gs on operations against the Houthis have appeared with some other interesting loadouts, with the Growlers getting expanded air-to-air missile capabilities via additional AIM-120 AMRAAM carriage options. These weapons are primarily intended to counter Houthi drones over and around the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, carrier-based F/A-18E/Fs have been seen carrying a notably wide array of air-to-ground ordnance during these operations. Such stores include the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) and the AGM-84H Standoff Land Attack Missile–Expanded Response, better known as SLAM-ER. More common are the Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) that have also been seen equipping Super Hornets striking targets in Yemen, specifically equipped with 'bunker-buster' bomb bodies.
1/ Aside from the launch of F/A-18E/Fs armed with JSOW C/C-1s, the video also shows F/A-18Es armed with SLAM-ER ATAs parked on the fligh deck. https://t.co/3TC4kKIn17 pic.twitter.com/OqQBbRrYGY
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) March 16, 2025
The big question raised by this latest imagery is what kinds of targets are being prosecuted using these prized anti-radiation missiles.
The Houthis operate ground-based air defenses, and although the kinds of radars and sensors they use for target detection and cuing are not widely known, they are clearly a significant threat. In particular, they've taken a heavy toll on MQ-9 drones — last month, Stars and Stripes reported that the Yemeni militants had downed 12 Reapers since October 2023, citing an anonymous U.S. defense official.
The U.S. military has been targeting radars that the group has, also including coastal sea surveillance radars used for targeting ships. Meanwhile, the degree of threat that these air defenses continue to pose is also highlighted by the arrival of B-2 stealth bombers in the ongoing operations, as well as the continued use of expensive standoff munitions.
Most likely, the missiles are AARGMs, a direct evolution of the older HARM, designed primarily to suppress and destroy enemy air defenses. This can happen defensively to protect other aerial assets or specifically for going after air defenses proactively. The AARGM can reach targets more than 80 miles away and reach speeds of well over twice the speed of sound.
Different in a number of ways from HARM, AARGM offers a major advantage in that it can hit a threat radar with a high degree of precision even if it stops emitting radiation. An adversary air defense operator may shut down their radar mid-attack, but the AARGM will still strike it and do so with extreme accuracy. Even if the emitter is mobile and starts to move after having shut down, AARGM can still hit it, guided by its active millimeter-wave radar seeker.
Thanks to its standoff precision strike capability, AARGM has a secondary role as a rapid-response strike weapon against non-air defense-related targets. In this scenario, the missile is programmed to hit selected coordinates, rather than home in on emissions. The missile's high speed and its range make it a very useful time-sensitive target effector for these kinds of engagements.
Last year, during the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) to the U.S. Fifth Fleet region, the Navy confirmed to TWZ that the first combat use of AARGM was from an E/A-18G deployed aboard that warship.
At the same time, the Navy confirmed to us that an EA-18G assigned to VAQ-130 'Zappers,' from the Dwight D. Eisenhower, had used an AARGM for a ground kill against a Mi-24/35 Hind attack helicopter in Yemen.
Did this Growler from VAQ-130 operating in the Middle East kill a hind recently?
Maybe a Houthi one since this squadron was with the Ike in the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/7Ba7aCJSxj
— IntelWalrus (@IntelWalrus) May 15, 2024
For a non-radiation-emitting target like the Hind, something in the Navy's 'kill chain' or pre-mission intelligence will have likely spotted the target and the AARGM will have been used to destroy it as it sat on the ground, using GPS/INS to make its way to the target, then homing in on it using its millimeter-wave radar seeker.
Via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, TWZ received confirmation of some of the types of targets depicted in 'kill marks' on specific EA-18Gs seen aboard the Dwight D. Eisenhower last year. Of these, one referred to a helicopter kill (the aforementioned Hind), two to Houthi drones downed over the Red Sea, and the remaining six were unspecified Houthi radars.
The EA-18G in question's unusually heavy anti-radiation missile configuration is the latest indication the Houthi's air defenses are more advanced than most think and that after all these months, they remain a threat that the Navy is clearly focused on eliminating.
Stay tuned for our deeper dive into the murky enemy air defenses situation in western Yemen.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
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The Reapers were essential aircraft in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they could stay in the air hunting for targets far longer than a crewed aircraft, and be placed in more dangerous airspace because there was no risk to a human flier. For example, from September 2007 to July 2008, MQ-9 flew 480 sorties totaling more than 3,800 hours in Afghanistan. In many ways, these UAVs resemble the earliest drones, which were just modified versions of manned aircraft. For example, World War II F6F Hellcat fighters converted into remote-controlled machines for target practice. The AQM-34L Firebee that flew reconnaissance missions over Vietnam was 29 feet long, not much shorter than an MQ-9. They face a glaring problem: more adversaries are armed with air defense missiles capable of knocking out aircraft-sized drones. Drones like the MQ-9 were not designed to fly in areas covered by an enemy's surface-to-air missiles. A Bayraktar's cruise speed is only 80 miles per hour, while even a relatively speedy Reaper has a cruise speed of around 200 miles per hour. Thus even a militant group like the Houthis can down an MQ-9 with an old Soviet SA-6 surface-to-air missile. This puts drones at a fork in the road — go low-cost and large volume or even higher-cost with fewer aircraft but more capability. America's Reaper replacement may do the latter: a more sophisticated — and expensive — drone that includes stealth capabilities to evade radar; radar remains the primary means for air defenses to detect targets. For Britain, with its far smaller defense budget of roughly $70 billion, an improved MALE drone isn't viable. Tollast sees several non-drone options, including Low Earth Orbit satellites, high-altitude balloons, and tethered aerostats (such as blimps), which avoid the vulnerability of medium-altitude drones. Yet satellites and balloons may not be in position when you need them, and aerostats can't be dispatched quickly into remote areas. Unless a technological breakthrough enables small UAVs to enjoy the capabilities of their larger brethren, the inability of large drones to function reduces the huge advantage of sensing the battlefield that the US and Western militaries have enjoyed.
