A U.S. warship shot down a U.S. F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet in a friendly fire incident over the Red Sea on Dec. 22.
The incident occurred when the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64), part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG), mistook the Super Hornet fighter jet for an enemy target in the early morning hours.
The missile cruiser brought down the U.S. fighter jet but its two pilots were able to safely eject over the Red Sea. Rescue crews were able to recover the pilots.
In a press statement shared with FreeBase News, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said one of the two pilots sustained minor injuries. CENTCOM said a full investigation of the friendly fire incident is under way.
The incident comes as U.S. forces have bolstered their presence in the Red Sea over the past years as Houthi forces in Yemen have attacked ships transiting the strategically and commercially critical waterway. The Houthis have claimed solidarity with the Palestinian cause and have vowed to continue attacking both commercial ships and Israel itself as long as Israeli forces continue to fight in the Gaza Strip.
The U.S.-led effort to stop these Houthi attacks, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, has seen the U.S. Navy cycle carrier battle groups in and out of the region. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG was the first to cycle through the region, followed by the USS Theodore Roosevelt CSG, than the USS Abraham Lincoln CSG, and now the Truman CSG.
U.S. forces have conducted routine strikes on Houthi targets within Yemen, but the rebel faction has continued its pattern of attacks for more than a year.
This friendly fire incident comes a day after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv. The Dec. 21 ballistic missile attack was able to slip through Israel’s air defense network and hit Tel Aviv. Israeli authorities reported more than a dozen people were injured in the missile attack.
CENTCOM reported U.S. warplanes conducted strikes conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility overnight on Dec. 21, following the missile attack on Tel Aviv.
The Houthis claimed they were firing on the Truman CSG at the time of the friendly fire incident involving the F/A-18. The Houthis further claimed their attacks caused U.S. warplanes to divert from their planned strikes on Yemen to instead defend the U.S. carrier.
This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.
