Two US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S. military said, the most serious incident threatening forces in more than a year of American targeting. The Houthis in Yemen.

The two pilots were recovered alive after jumping from their ill-fated plane, and one of them was slightly injured. But the downing of the plane underscores how dangerous the Red Sea corridor is due to the ongoing attacks on ships by the Iran-backed Houthis despite US and European military alliances patrolling the region.

The U.S. military had launched airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen at the time, though U.S. Army Central Command did not clarify details of their mission and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

Central Command said the downed F/A-18 had just flown off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. On December 15, Central Command acknowledged the entry of the aircraft carrier Truman into the Middle East, but did not specify that the carrier and its battle group were in the Red Sea.

“The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, part of the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, accidentally opened fire and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.

From the military description, the downed aircraft was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

It was not immediately clear how Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, especially since ships in a battle group remained linked by radar and radio communications.

However, Central Command said warships and aircraft had earlier shot down several Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile fired by the rebels. Hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors only seconds to make decisions in the past.

Since Truman’s arrival, the United States has intensified its air strikes targeting the Houthis and missile launches into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of a group of American warships could spark renewed attacks by insurgents, such as what the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower witnessed earlier this year. This deployment marked what the Navy described as Its heaviest fighting since World War II.

On Saturday night and early Sunday, US warplanes launched airstrikes that rocked Sanaa, the Yemeni capital that the Houthis have controlled since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a “missile storage facility” and a “command and control facility.” “Without going into details.

Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in Sanaa and around the coastal city of Hodeidah, without providing any information on casualties or damage. In Sanaa, the strikes appeared to specifically target a mountainous area known to be home to military facilities. The Houthis later admitted shooting down the plane in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 commercial ships with missiles and drones since the war between Israel and Hamas began in the Gaza Strip in October 2023 after a surprise Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

Local health officials say that the devastating Israeli attack on Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians. The number does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Houthis have One ship was captured and Two were sunk in the campaign Which also led to the death of four sailors. Other missiles and drones were intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which also included Western military ships.

The rebels insist they are targeting ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to the Israeli campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some ships bound for Iran.

The Houthis have also increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, killing 30 people. Retaliatory Israeli air strikes.