“From the flight deck of this carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, it is the ultimate paradox: No matter how fast and expensive and advanced the American air campaign — and it is all of those things — warfare in Iraq remains a slow and grinding business. About 65 combat planes — F/A-18 Hornets and F/A-18E Super Hornets armed with 500-pound laser-guided bombs, plus EA-18G Growlers for jamming enemy radar — cost $57 million each. They launch one after another in a series of catapulted slingshots, soaring into the skies from the Persian Gulf, and head to Iraq on their missions. The F/A-18s can travel up to one and a half times the speed of sound.”
Source: U.S. Jets Meet Limit as Iraqi Ground Fight Against ISIS Plods On – The New York Times