Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected safely after their F/A-18 Super Hornet was accidentally shot down by an American warship over the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed. The incident occurred early on Sunday during ongoing U.S. military operations in the region.
The aircraft, which had taken off from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, was mistakenly targeted by the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg. According to CENTCOM, “The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64), which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18, which was flying off the USS Harry S. Truman.”
In a formal statement, CENTCOM added:
“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 the 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.”
The incident highlights the risks in the Red Sea, a corridor increasingly destabilised by attacks from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. U.S. forces have been conducting airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, targeting missile storage and command facilities. The strikes aim to counter Houthi aggression, including frequent missile and drone attacks on merchant vessels and naval ships.
The USS Gettysburg is responsible for air defence within the carrier strike group. Armed with an array of advanced missile systems, the ship’s primary role is to detect and neutralise aerial threats. The mistaken identification of the F/A-18 raises questions about procedural failures and communication lapses within the strike group.
The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group has been deployed since September and recently entered the Red Sea. Prior to this deployment, it operated in the North Atlantic, participating in joint exercises with European allies.
CENTCOM reiterated that the incident was “not the result of hostile fire” and pledged a full investigation. This event marks one of the most severe operational mishaps for U.S. forces in the region in recent years.
The U.S. Navy continues to lead efforts to protect critical shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. However, incidents like this underline the complexities and risks of operating in contested maritime environments.
Well, the missiles work…
Another interview without coffee for several bods and at least one cmdr walking the plank. Will his XO be behind him.
Of course if the airplane crew had watched more Maverick, they would have dodged the SAM 😉
The latest generations of NATO missiles are pretty much impossible to dodge as they are so fast/accurate as well as the ability to put some superb sensors and processing into the pointy bit.
I’m impressed that both pilots got out in a pretty good state TBH. Says a lot for how well protected the cockpit actually is. Presumably a hit to the hot bit of the engines….so the mass and structure of the engines deflected the warhead effects?
Sounds like Red Sea is too busy and hostile to recover the aircraft remains that may include the avionics which have intelligence value to F/A18 combatants (enemies). Not the houties, rather RF or CCP forces, who want to know more.
I suppose that a US CSG has everything that might be required but don’t know if submersible recovery is a USN standard capability or a specialist vessel.
When RN dropped an F-35B in the drink, the need for recovery to safeguard the aircraft from foreign powers meant swift action regardless of the possibility of a return to service..
Two questions why did the IFF and the F/A F -18 jammer fail, understand the SM-2 has both semi-active and IR homing heads.
Both good points.
Jammer isn’t generally designed to jam your own missiles.
To do that you have to engineer to the known weaknesses and by doing so that knowledge envelope is increased.
The IFF is always a thing and is never 100% electronics fail or fail to behave.
That part of the Red Sea is just over 3,000 metres. One would assume the aircraft disintegrated upon the missile activating or when it hit the surface at 400+mph and it’s spread over a large area.
Can they afford to lose another Captain, Commander or even Defence Secretary. Oh well makes our leaving covers on a launching F-35 seem a little less tragic. Thank god the crew are safe.
And they get to wear the Club tie!
Considering how fanatical the USN is about removing COs for anything I would say there will be a whole host of sackings..they are not adverse to getting rid of all levels so I would imagine the captain of the destroyer, CBG CO, airwing CO and squadron CO will all be having a worrying time around their futures depending on which processes and procedures failed.
Thankfully the aircrew survived, and at least this time it wasn’t a commercial airliner.
Thankfully the pilots are ok, This highlights why we don’t keep active air defences around our airbases in peace time as they are as much a danger to your own side and even more so to civilian traffic with no IFF.
To counter modern air threats many launches are done automatically by the computer. If an Aegis missile destroyer can make this mistake what chance for an army or RAF operated air defence battery near Lossiemouth.
You can have defences in place but set to standby.
You only switch them to auto when the defensive state is raised. Then you announce exclusion zones.
Just think of the data collection value for the manufacturers. A real soak test of the detection and targeting systems to fine tune and improve the algorithms. Tried and tested used to mean the development and test process but as machine learning becomes the new normal it’s all about the quality of training data. So with the right supervision the systems get better with the flow of real world data. Not having to engage in live combat for any training is a bonus.
Yes but a lot of dumb asses on here want air defences permanently on in case of a Russian sneak attack and the apparent fact we don’t have that makes us defenceless in their estimation.
No one has such a thing for the reason above.
Reminds me of the incident where a german destroyer fired two SM2 on a us drone but missed the target. Not “the Place to be”.
Israel have launched thousands of air defence missiles. It is possible that occurred friendly fire but we are talking single digits for thousands of launches.
They should not have been operating on automatic when operating near a carrier like they were (at least not for aircraft sized targets). IFF is not fail proof. If it was on automatic, someone will likely be in trouble because it was (or because it was not set correctly). If it was not on, then someone pushed a button, with or without orders to do so. Now if the incoming is a supersonic missile, firing without waiting for orders has been done before. Hardly the case here.
I guess we can be thankful they didn’t mistake the carrier for a Seababy.
Since AFU never had a Carrier, I don’t suppose the Seababy EW capabilities include decoy Carrier impersonation.
Due to RF use of helicopters, Seababy has been equipped with surface to air missiles and most lately radar guided cannon to give the helos an AP surprise. Only so much armour the HIND or similar can carry.
Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦 Slava Heroyam 🇺🇦
Likely a problem with the IFF. On either the vessel or the F18. At least the crew survived.
Wondering if pilots tried all evasive measures. Good tale to tell and alive and well.
Who messed up the IFF?
Who is going to be held accountable and pick up the tab for the lost fighter jet ? Somebody needs to take responsibility and get a bill for this screw up . The American tax payer is not responsible but will get the bill for some idiots screw up .
Why is the main pic an Aussie F18? Surely a pic of a USN jet could be found?
Another Blue on Blue by the Americans, they have done this to our forces so many times, it’s about time they got there act together.