Every war United States Naval Aviation has fought
Vietnam was the costliest war naval aviation fought after 1945: 532 aircraft lost in combat and 329 to operational causes, and 401 aviators killed, by Hobson’s count as given by Wikipedia. The Second World War figures rest on Wikipedia and were not checked against the Naval History and Heritage Command. In the Red Sea campaign Truman lost three Super Hornets, none to enemy action. In 2026 Navy aircraft supported the raid that seized President Maduro of Venezuela and flew in Operation Epic Fury against Iran; Washington says Iran accepted a ceasefire on 7 April 2026, a naval blockade followed, and in August 2026 USNI News described the conflict as continuing. No Navy aircraft loss in Epic Fury was confirmed in the sources checked. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the Veracruz landing in 1914 to Operation Epic Fury against Iran in 2026.
| סְתִירָה | שנים | נֶגֶד | מטוס ראשי | גיחות | מטוס אבד | |
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| The Veracruz occupationהטיסות המבצעיות הראשונותUnited States Naval Aviation | 1914 | Mexico | Curtiss floatplanes and flying boats | — | 0 | |
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Flew reconnaissance for the troops ashore from the battleship Mississippi and the cruiser Birmingham. Three months after naval aviation moved to Pensacola, the Navy sent what it had to Mexico. From 24 April 1914 five floatplanes and flying boats, flown by ten aviators, operated from Mississippi and Birmingham off Veracruz and Tampico, scouting for the sailors and Marines who had landed. It was the first time American naval aircraft were used on an operation, and it showed both the promise and the limits of the early machines: they could see over the horizon, but they could carry nothing and stay up only briefly. תוֹצָאָה The occupation of Veracruz lasted until November 1914; the aviators’ work was limited to scouting. Details of individual flights were not confirmed in the sources checked. |
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| מלחמת העולם הראשונהpatrols, bombing and one aceUnited States Naval Aviation | 1917–1918 | גֶרמָנִיָה | Sopwith Camel (with the RAF), Curtiss flying boats | — | — | |
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Trained naval aviators in large numbers, flew anti-submarine patrols, and attached pilots to British and French units. When the United States entered the war in April 1917, Pensacola had 38 aviators on hand; by the armistice it had trained about a thousand, and the station alone had 438 officers and 5,538 enlisted men. David Ingalls, who came from the First Yale Unit, Naval Aviator No. 85, flew Sopwith Camels with No. 213 Squadron of the Royal Air Force and was credited with six victories, the Navy’s only ace of the war; his last combat mission was on 3 October 1918. תוֹצָאָה Naval aviation ended the war vastly larger than it began it. Overall aircraft and personnel figures for naval aviation in Europe were not confirmed in the sources checked. |
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| מלחמת העולם השנייהthe carrier warUnited States Naval Aviation | 1941–1945 | Japan and Germany | Grumman F4F Wildcat, גרומן F6F הלקט, Vought F4U Corsairועוד 5 | — | — | |
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Fought the Pacific war at sea with fast carrier task forces, and hunted submarines and escorted convoys with patrol aircraft. The first carrier, Langley, was scuttled on 27 February 1942 after Japanese bombers caught her ferrying fighters to Java. Four months later the Navy’s carriers turned the war at Midway. On 4 June 1942 Torpedo Squadron 8 lost all 15 Devastators without a hit, and only Ensign George Gay of its 30 aircrew survived, but from 10:22 Navy dive bombers wrecked Akagi, Kaga and Sōryū within minutes and Hiryū later that day. Japan lost four carriers, 248 aircraft and 3,057 men. By 1944 the Hellcat had arrived in numbers: in the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June, 15 carriers with about 900 aircraft destroyed 550–645 Japanese aircraft for 123 of their own, an action a Lexington pilot compared to "an old-time turkey shoot". Avengers helped sink the battleships Musashi and Yamato. The price included 45 Helldivers that ran out of fuel returning from the long-range strike of 20 June 1944. תוֹצָאָה Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945; the carrier had replaced the battleship as the centre of the fleet. Hellcat victory claims are given as both 5,163 and 5,223 in Wikipedia’s article. Japanese aircraft losses in the Philippine Sea are a range (550–645). All figures here are from Wikipedia and were not checked against the Naval History and Heritage Command, whose site could not be reached.
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| מלחמת קוריאהTask Force 77United States Naval Aviation | 1950–1953 | צפון קוריאה, סין וברית המועצות | Grumman F9F Panther, Vought F4U Corsair, Douglas AD Skyraider | — | — | |
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Flew interdiction, close support and fighter cover from carriers off both coasts. Seventeen US carriers served in United Nations carrier operations. The first strike came from Valley Forge on 3 July 1950, against Pyongyang airfield, and Lt. (jg) Leonard Plog of VF-51 shot down a Yak-9 for the Navy’s first victory of the war — also the first combat strike by jets. On 2 May 1951 Skyraiders made the war’s only aerial torpedo attack, on the Hwacheon Dam. On 18 November 1952 Lt. Royce Williams, flying a Panther from Oriskany, fought seven Soviet-flown MiG-15s for 35 minutes and was credited with four before nursing his damaged jet back to the ship. The Blue Angels were disbanded in November 1950 and their pilots sent to the carrier Princeton. תוֹצָאָה Armistice signed in July 1953. Soviet involvement in the Williams fight was kept secret for decades; the four-kill credit is as given by Wikipedia. Navy loss totals for Korea were not confirmed.
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| מלחמת וייטנאםYankee StationUnited States Naval Aviation | 1964–1973 | צפון וייטנאם | מקדונל דאגלס F-4 פנטום II, Vought F-8 Crusader, Douglas A-4 Skyhawkועוד 4 | — | 861 | |
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Struck North Vietnam from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin for nine years and fought the North Vietnamese air force. Navy Skyhawks flew some of the first American strikes of the war in Operation Pierce Arrow in 1964, and 21 of the Navy’s 23 operational carriers served with Task Force 77. It was the costliest war naval aviation fought after 1945: 861 aircraft and 401 aviators killed. The air-to-air record was poor at first, and Captain Frank Ault’s 1968 report into missile failures led to the Navy Fighter Weapons School — Top Gun — at Miramar on 3 March 1969. Wikipedia credits it with lifting the Navy’s kill-to-loss ratio against MiGs from 2.42:1 to 12.5:1. Navy Phantoms scored 40 victories, Crusaders 19 for three losses, and even Skyraiders shot down two MiG-17s with cannon. In 1972 Lt. Randy Cunningham and Lt. (jg) William Driscoll of VF-96 shot down three MiGs in one flight to become the Navy’s only aces of the war. On 14 January 1969 a fire on Enterprise killed 27 sailors and destroyed 15 aircraft. תוֹצָאָה US combat involvement ended with the Paris agreements of January 1973. Phantom combat losses are given as 73 in the F-4 article and 75 in the Vietnam losses article. The kill ratios are as given by Wikipedia; North Vietnamese figures differ and were not checked.
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| Libya: the Gulf of Sidra, El Dorado Canyon and Tobrukthe Line of DeathUnited States Naval Aviation | 1981–1989 | לוב | Grumman F-14A Tomcat, Grumman A-6E Intruder, LTV A-7E Corsair IIועוד 2 | — | 0 | |
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Challenged Libya’s claim to the Gulf of Sidra, shot down four Libyan fighters in two engagements and struck Benghazi in 1986. Libya claimed the whole Gulf of Sidra as territorial water behind a line at 32° 30′ N. On 19 August 1981 two F-14As of VF-41 from Nimitz shot down two Libyan Su-22M3s with AIM-9L Sidewinders; Wikipedia reports that both Libyan pilots ejected. On 15 April 1986, in Operation El Dorado Canyon, America’s A-6Es struck targets in Benghazi and Coral Sea’s Intruders hit Benina airfield, destroying three or four MiGs, two Mi-8s and a Fokker F27, while Coral Sea’s Hornets flew their first combat missions on air defence suppression. On 4 January 1989 two F-14As of VF-32 from John F. Kennedy shot down two MiG-23MLs about 40 miles north of Tobruk. The United States called it self-defence after repeated head-on approaches; Libya said two unarmed reconnaissance aircraft on a routine mission over international waters had been attacked, and asked for an emergency UN session. תוֹצָאָה Libya continued to dispute the US position; the confrontations ended after 1989. Libya’s casualty figures for 1986 (about 40 reported, per Wikipedia) were not confirmed against Libyan sources.
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| Operation Praying Mantisthe tanker warUnited States Naval Aviation | 1988 | איראן | Grumman A-6E Intruder | — | — | |
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Attacked Iranian warships after the frigate Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine. After the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine on 14 April 1988, the Navy retaliated. Aircraft of Enterprise’s Carrier Air Wing 11 bombed two Iranian frigates, helping to sink one and damaging the other. תוֹצָאָה One Iranian frigate sunk and another damaged by Enterprise’s air wing, per Wikipedia. Detailed sortie and loss figures were not confirmed in the sources checked.
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| מבצע סופת מדברsix carriersUnited States Naval Aviation | 1991 | עִירַאק | Grumman F-14A/A+ Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/C Hornet, Grumman A-6E Intruderועוד 3 | — | — | |
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Flew strike, air defence, electronic warfare and tanker missions from six carriers. Midway and Theodore Roosevelt operated in the Gulf and Ranger, America, John F. Kennedy and Saratoga in the Red Sea; the Navy had more than 400 aircraft in theatre. On the first night, 17 January 1991, Lt. Cdr. Scott Speicher of VFA-81 from Saratoga was shot down; a 2001 CIA assessment said most likely by a missile from an Iraqi MiG-25. His status changed five times until his remains were identified on 2 August 2009. The same day Lt. Cdr. Mark Fox and Lt. Nick Mongilio, in a flight of four Hornets, shot down two MiGs in a brief dogfight. Theodore Roosevelt flew 3,897 sorties and dropped more than 4.8 million pounds of ordnance, the most of any carrier. The A-7 flew its last combat and was retired in May 1991. תוֹצָאָה Kuwait was liberated; the ground war ended on 28 February 1991. Naval aviation’s share of coalition sorties and its loss total were not confirmed in the sources checked.
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| Bosnia and KosovoDeliberate Force and Allied ForceUnited States Naval Aviation | 1995–1999 | Republika Srpska and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, Grumman EA-6B Prowler | — | — | |
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Struck Bosnian Serb and Yugoslav targets from carriers in the Adriatic. Theodore Roosevelt took part in Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces in 1995 and in 1999 flew two months of strikes over Kosovo and Serbia in Operation Allied Force. These were coalition air campaigns in which naval aviation was a contributor rather than the lead. תוֹצָאָה The Dayton agreement followed in 1995; Belgrade accepted NATO terms in June 1999. Sortie counts and Navy-specific figures were not confirmed; the USAF page carries the overall Allied Force account.
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| מבצע "חופש מתמשך"אפגניסטןUnited States Naval Aviation | 2001–2014 | הטאליבן ואל-קאעידה | Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornetועוד 2 | — | — | |
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Flew strike and close air support missions over Afghanistan from carriers in the North Arabian Sea. Enterprise flew nearly 700 missions and dropped more than 800,000 pounds of ordnance over Afghanistan in the first three weeks of the campaign in October 2001. Theodore Roosevelt then stayed at sea for 160 consecutive days, a record since the Second World War, and flew more than 3,100 sorties. Carriers in the Arabian Sea remained a main source of air support over Afghanistan for years afterwards. תוֹצָאָה The Taliban government fell in late 2001; carrier support continued until the combat mission ended. Loss totals and the Navy’s share of sorties were not confirmed; one ordnance figure in Wikipedia’s Theodore Roosevelt article (59,500 pounds) looks wrong and is not used.
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| Operation Iraqi Freedomthe invasion of IraqUnited States Naval Aviation | 2003–2011 | עִירַאק | Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornetועוד אחד | — | — | |
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Flew strike and support missions from several carriers in the invasion and in the occupation that followed. Super Hornets had already flown a "response option" strike at Al Kut and Tallil on 6 November 2002, their first combat. Four carriers were on station during the 2003 invasion, and Enterprise relieved them from September 2003. In March 2003 an S-3B hit a target in Basra with a laser-guided Maverick. The F-14’s last combat sortie, a bomb over Iraq, came on 8 February 2006. תוֹצָאָה Baghdad fell in April 2003; carriers rotated through the Gulf for years after. No consolidated figures were found for naval aviation in Iraq.
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| Operation Odyssey DawnLibya 2011United States Naval Aviation | 2011 | לוב (ממשלת קדאפי) | Boeing EA-18G Growler | — | 0 | |
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Provided electronic attack for the coalition’s first strikes against Libyan air defences. The EA-18G Growler, which had made its first operational deployment only weeks earlier, flew its first combat missions enforcing the UN no-fly zone over Libya in March 2011. תוֹצָאָה The coalition campaign continued under NATO as Operation Unified Protector. Growler sortie numbers were not published in the sources checked.
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| מבצע פתרון טבועעיראק וסוריהUnited States Naval Aviation | 2014–2021 | Islamic State and Syria (one engagement) | Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler | — | — | |
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Struck the Islamic State group from carriers and shot down a Syrian government fighter in 2017. Carrier air wings flew against the Islamic State from 2014; in 2015 Theodore Roosevelt’s wing launched 1,800 sorties and used over a million pounds of ordnance. On 18 June 2017, near Ja’Din south of Tabqah, Lt. Cdr. Michael Tremel of VFA-87 from George H.W. Bush shot down a Syrian Su-22 with an AIM-120 after an AIM-9X missed. The coalition said the jet had bombed Syrian Democratic Forces and was shot down "in collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces"; the Syrian army said its aircraft was "fulfilling its mission against Daesh". Russia, per USNI News, said it would end airspace deconfliction with the coalition. It was the first American air-to-air kill since 1999. תוֹצָאָה The Islamic State lost its territory by 2019. The end date is a convention: the coalition combat mission in Iraq ended in December 2021, while operations in Syria continued.
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| The Red Sea campaignProsperity Guardian, Poseidon Archer and Rough RiderUnited States Naval Aviation | 2023–2025 | אנצאר אללה (תנועת החות'ים) | Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II, Boeing EA-18G Growlerועוד 2 | — | 3 | |
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Shot down Houthi drones and missiles over the shipping lanes and struck missile, drone and radar sites in Yemen. For the carrier air wings it was a long and largely defensive fight. Eisenhower’s air wing, deployed from 14 October 2023 to 14 July 2024, fired at least 80 air-to-air missiles and 350 air-to-surface weapons, by the account of its strike group commander, Rear Adm. Marc Miguez; on 26 December 2023 Super Hornets destroyed 12 drones, three anti-ship missiles and two cruise missiles, and on 9 March 2024 at least 28 drones were shot down in four hours. In 2024 the F-35C flew its first combat in strikes on Yemen. Rough Rider, from 15 March to 6 May 2025, was heavier: Truman alone dropped more than 1.1 million pounds of ordnance. Truman’s deployment was also an embarrassment, with three jets lost and a collision with the merchant ship Besiktas-M off Port Said on 12 February 2025, which, with the jet losses, Navy investigations linked to leadership failures, training gaps and faulty equipment. תוֹצָאָה A ceasefire with the Houthis was announced on 6 May 2025. The shoot-down by USS Gettysburg is dated 21 December (US time) by one USNI article and 22 December (local) by another. Houthi claims of attacks on carriers were not verified and are not reported as fact. The interception counts are those given by US officers.
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| Operation Absolute Resolvethe Venezuela raidUnited States Naval Aviation | 2026 | Venezuela (Maduro government) | Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye | — | 0 | |
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Navy strike, electronic attack and early warning aircraft supported the raid that seized President Nicolás Maduro. The raid early on 3 January 2026 followed months in which the Gerald R. Ford strike group with Carrier Air Wing 8 had been in the Caribbean for Operation Southern Spear, the counter-drug campaign. USNI News lists F/A-18s, EA-18G Growlers and E-2s among the roughly 150 aircraft involved, alongside Air Force fighters and bombers and the helicopters of the extraction force. Venezuela’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, demanded Maduro’s release; Colombia and Mexico condemned the operation and the UN Secretary-General said the rules of international law had not been respected. תוֹצָאָה Maduro and his wife were taken into US custody; Venezuela’s vice-president called him "the legitimate leader of Venezuela". Venezuelan casualty figures were not given in the source. Which carrier the Navy aircraft flew from was not confirmed. The Southern Spear boat strikes are not attributed to naval aviation here, since the sources did not say which forces carried them out.
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| Operation Epic Fury and the blockade of Iranמלחמת איראן בשנת 2026United States Naval Aviation | 2026 | איראן | Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II (Marine Corps), Boeing EA-18G Growlerועוד 2 | — | — | |
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Struck Iranian targets and naval forces from carriers, then enforced a naval blockade. Epic Fury began at 1:15 a.m. on 28 February 2026. On the first night Marine F-35Cs and Navy Super Hornets launched from Abraham Lincoln in the North Arabian Sea, while the Gerald R. Ford group, which had been sent from the Caribbean, was in the eastern Mediterranean. CENTCOM’s fact sheet lists nuclear-powered carriers, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes and MH-60 Seahawks among the assets, more than 13,000 targets struck and more than 155 Iranian vessels damaged or destroyed. Ford came home in May 2026 after a record 326-day deployment, and Lincoln passed 300 days at sea. In the blockade that followed, an F/A-18 from Lincoln disabled the tanker Marivex in June 2026; three Indian mariners were killed in a strike on another tanker that week. תוֹצָאָה Washington says Iran accepted a ceasefire on 7 April 2026; a US naval blockade followed, and in August 2026 USNI News described the conflict as continuing. Iranian loss and casualty claims were not checked. The ceasefire date and the blockade are both reported by US sources; the status of the conflict in late 2026 is described as ongoing by USNI News. The USAF page carries the overall campaign account.
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שום דבר לא תואם את החיפוש הזה.
כל נתון, נבדק
- USNI News: Carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower Returns Home Following Seven-month Fight With Houthi Drones, Missiles (20 July 2024)CVW-3 flew 80 to 120 sorties a day; at least 80 air-to-air missiles and 350 air-to-surface weapons (Rear Adm. Marc Miguez); at least 28 drones downed on 9 March 2024.
- USNI News: Investigations Show Failures Behind Carrier Harry S. Truman Collision, Loss of 3 Super Hornets (4 December 2025)VFA-11 F/A-18F shot down by USS Gettysburg on 22 December 2024; VFA-136 F/A-18E lost from the hangar bay 28 April 2025; VFA-11 F/A-18F lost after arresting gear failure 6 May 2025; collision with Besiktas-M 12 February 2025.
- USNI News: USS Harry S. Truman is Back (1 June 2025)251-day deployment; Rough Rider 15 March to 6 May 2025 with Truman and Carl Vinson; at least 1,000 strikes; more than 1.1 million pounds of ordnance from Truman.
- USNI News: SOUTHCOM Doesn’t Need a Carrier for Maritime Interdiction, CNO Says (6 April 2026)Ford CSG with CVW-8 in the Caribbean for more than 100 days for Operation Southern Spear; Ford deployed 286 days by 6 April 2026.
- USNI News: Maduro, Wife Captured by American Forces (3 January 2026)Operation Absolute Resolve: about 150 aircraft from 20 locations including F/A-18s, EA-18Gs and E-2s; one aircraft hit but returned; Venezuelan and international reactions.
- USNI News: U.S., Israel Launch Strikes Against Iran, Tehran Retaliates Across Region (28 February 2026)Marine F-35Cs and Navy F/A-18E/Fs launched from Abraham Lincoln in the North Arabian Sea; Ford CSG in the eastern Mediterranean.
- USNI News: USS George H.W. Bush Departs for Deployment, USS Gerald Ford Could Be Extended to 11 Months (31 March 2026)Bush with CVW-7 departed 31 March 2026; Ford at 280 days.
- USNI News: Navy Planning for Extended Carrier Deployments as Iran Conflict Continues (26 August 2026)Ford returned in May 2026 after a record 326-day deployment; carrier deployments since October 2023 averaged 8.5 months; naval blockade of Iran; CNO Adm. Daryl Caudle.
- USNI News: U.S. Disables 3 Tankers As Part of Iranian Blockade (11 June 2026)An F/A-18 from Abraham Lincoln disabled the tanker Marivex; three Indian mariners killed in a strike on another tanker.
- USNI News: U.S. Navy Super Hornet Shoots Down Syrian Jet Near ISIS Stronghold Raqqah (18 June 2017)Coalition statement of collective self-defence and the Syrian army statement that the aircraft was on a mission against ISIS.
- משרד המלחמה האמריקאי: הזעם האפי דוכא לעת עתה, המטרות הושגו, כוחות ארה"ב נותרו מוכניםCeasefire of 7 April 2026 and the 38-day duration; cited as on the USAF page, not re-fetched for this file.
- פיקוד המרכז של ארה"ב: דף מידע על מבצע "זעם אפי", 6 באפריל 2026Start 28 February 2026 at 1:15 a.m.; assets include nuclear-powered carriers, F-18s, F-35s, EA-18Gs, E-2Ds and MH-60s; 13,000+ targets struck; 155+ Iranian vessels damaged or destroyed.
- מגזין כוחות האוויר והחלל: עולם - זעם אפיCampaign overview; Kuwaiti F/A-18 friendly-fire shoot-down of three USAF F-15Es; no Navy loss figures given.
- MiGFlug Afterburner: 39 Aircraft Lost — The Full Cost of Epic FuryItemised list of losses; no US Navy aircraft appears in it.
הנתונים אומתו בתאריך 1.10.2026. Back to the United States Naval Aviation.