Super Hornet returns to Lemoore with submarine kill marking

A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet returned to Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, on October 1 with nose art indicating it took part in sinking a submarine during its squadron's deployment aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

The jet, numbered 168491 and assigned to VFA-41, was photographed landing with a submarine silhouette on its nose, filled in with the words "Sub Buster." Submarine sinkings are rare in warfare, and the source states this is believed to be the first time a Super Hornet has been decorated this way.

According to the source, Iran lost a large share of its submarine force during Operation Epic Fury, so the marking alone cannot confirm which vessel the aircraft helped destroy. If the silhouette is meant to be representative, the source notes, it most closely resembles a Kilo class boat.

Of Iran's three Russian-built Kilo class submarines, the source says one, the Taregh, was confirmed by the United States as destroyed while in port. The other two have long been inoperable, though the source adds they would still count as kills if targeted.

The source also says the US confirmed the sinking of the Fateh, the first boat of an indigenous class of small coastal submarines, but notes this type does not match the submarine depicted on the aircraft. Several Ghadir class submarines, smaller still than the Fateh, are also known to have been destroyed, according to the source, which adds that the marking cannot be tied definitively to any one of these vessels.