The U.S. Navy's newest warplane, the F-18E "Super Hornet", went into combat for the first time on November 6th when an F-18E dropped two smart bombs on Iraqi anti-aircraft missile launchers in southern Iraq. The F-18 flew from the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is stationed in the Persian Gulf. U.S. Air Force, British and U.S. Navy aircraft are operating more aggressively over the northern and southern no-fly zones of Iraq, partly as practice for a possible invasion of Iraq. The F-18E is an extensive, and expensive.  redesign of the original F-18.