The Navy says Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers have joined the fight against the Islamic State, flying from the amphibious assault ship Boxer in the Persian Gulf.
With strike aircraft already conducting missions from the U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea, the Navy say the entry of the Harriers marks the “first naval aviation combat strike missions of Operation Inherent Resolve launched from Navy warships in two different operational theaters.”
“Today, U.S. naval forces are striking ISIL simultaneously from both the Mediterranean and the Arabian Gulf,” said Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command chief, in a Navy release.
The Harriers, which can take off and land vertically, are embarked aboad the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which arrived in U.S. 5th Fleet’s area of responsibility April 5.
The Truman group began combat sorties over Syria and Iraq from the eastern Mediterranean Sea June 3.
