Military aviation and defense news website The Aviationist reports that a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet returned from Operation Epic Fury carrying a "Sub Buster" marking, raising the possibility that a carrier-based fighter jet was credited with an Iranian submarine kill.

Photographs taken by Jeff Rojas and highlighted last week by The Aviationist show a broken-submarine victory marking, potentially the first such decoration on a Super Hornet.

The Aviationist explained:

Iran lost a large number of its submarine force during Operation Epic Fury, so it is not possible to definitively confirm which vessel the Super Hornet was involved in destroying. However, if the marking is designed to be representative, it most resembles a Kilo class submarine. Of Iran's three Russian-built Kilo class submarines, one, the Taregh, was specifically confirmed by the U.S. as destroyed while in port. The remaining two are thought to have long been inoperable though, if also targeted, would count as a kill all the same.

The Navy has not publicly confirmed a submarine kill by the fighter jet or explained the marking. The marking also does not establish whether the aircraft delivered the weapon, supported another platform or participated in a broader operation.