A Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) was shot down by a cruise missile launched by the destroyer USS Gettysburg while flying in the Red Sea on December 22.
According to US Central Command, the aircraft was the target of apparent ‘friendly fire’. The two crew members of the supersonic jet ejected safely, with one of them suffering minor injuries.
The US Navy has not confirmed, but the F/A-18 was reportedly involved in missions to attack the Houthis in Yemen. The rebel group has been carrying out attacks on merchant ships in the region, at the behest of Iran.
“Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected safely over the Red Sea during the early morning hours of December 22 when their F/A-18 fighter aircraft was shot down in an apparent case of friendly fire. Both pilots were safely recovered. Initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries. This incident was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway,” a CENTCOM statement said.
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The precision airstrikes were launched on December 21 against a missile storage facility and a command and control facility operated by the Houthis in Sana’a, Yemen.
In addition, the operation involved the downing of several Houthi-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles (OWA UAVs) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.
The USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group entered the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on December 14.
