The U.S. Navy on Monday said that an aircraft carrier responsible for launching strikes in the Red Sea against Houthi terrorists lost an F/A-18 Super Hornet that went overboard.
The USS Harry S. Truman lost the fighter jet and a tow tractor while operating in the vast waterway.
The plane was actively under tow in a hangar bay when the crew lost control of the aircraft. The jet and tow then went overboard and were lost, the Navy said.
Sailors towing the aircraft took “immediate action” to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard, the Navy said.
A U.S. official confirmed to Military.com that initial reports indicated the Truman made a hard turn to evade Houthi fire, which contributed to the fighter jet falling overboard.
I saw this on the news too. Glad that no one got killed or injured but I’m sure that a few people will be called on the carpet for this incident. It’s a good thing they weren’t in the Royal Navy or else they’d be keelhauled.
The cause of failure of layered air defense in this instance and the corrective actions implemented by the Navy will be an interesting point of study. Separately to the ability to deploy combat aircraft and AWACS, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers have a considerable arsenal onboard including:
2-3 x Mk 29 Guided Missile Systems each carrying 8 missiles
I was never in the Navy, but it’s my understanding that sailors can be a very superstitious lot. I would expect the Truman must be labeled a “cursed” ship now, if not even before this. I believe an F18 from the Truman was shot down in a friendly fire incident. And she hit a commercial vessel a year or two ago.
Yes, just like the USN recovered the Tomcat that went overboard off USS JFK back during the Cold War to prevent the Soviets from getting ahold of the ‘Cat and its then top secret radar & weapons systems.
It is not entirely clear what happened yet, as the investigation is ongoing, but two of the people said there was some kind of arrestment failure as the jet was trying to land on the carrier and the pilot and weapons systems officer had to eject. They were recovered by a rescue helicopter and are both alive, but they suffered minor injuries, one of the people said.
Once again I want to state that I’m so glad that no one was injured but at the same time I wonder what model kit manufacturer will include this news in the next box art for a F-18 Super Hornet kit? There have been some kits released years ago that showed their plane being shot down in battle so it’s not that far fetched.
