F/A-18 Super Hornet

The F/A-18 Super Hornet entered the spotlight on 8 May 2026 when US Navy aircraft from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers in the Persian Gulf using a precision strike on their smokestacks, a technique that disables propulsion without sinking the vessel. The strikes targeted M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, a tactic first reported by The War Zone and designed to enforce US warnings against Iranian oil exports without triggering a full naval confrontation.

The Super Hornet is the US Navy's primary carrier-based multirole aircraft, first entering service in 1999 as the successor to the original F/A-18 Hornet. It carries a crew of one or two, has a combat radius of roughly 720 km, and can be armed with precision-guided munitions, anti-ship missiles, and stand-off weapons. The aircraft is manufactured by Boeing and remains the backbone of US carrier air wings, with over 500 in active service.

The smokestack-bombing technique demonstrated the Super Hornet's versatility as an instrument of graduated coercion: disabling a vessel's engine exhaust disables propulsion without a sinking that would constitute an act of war under international maritime law. The approach mirrors the logic of UNCLOS Article 58 debates around proportionality in the exclusive economic zone, and has drawn significant legal scrutiny from naval-law scholars.