Both pilots made a safe recovery after ejecting from the stricken aircraft, with one pilot suffering minor injuries.
The US military was conducting airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time of the incident. US military’s Central Command did not elaborate further on the purpose of carrying out the mission during an interview with the Associated Press.
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The shot down F/A-18 had flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command, said. On Dec. 15, the Central Command acknowledged Truman had entered the Mideast, but did not specify that the carrier and its battle group were in the Red Sea.
“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” the Central Command said in an official statement.
From the military’s description, the shot down aircraft was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.
It was not immediately clear how Gettysburg mistook an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, especially when ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.
However, the Central Command said, the fleet of warships and aircrafts had shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile earlier.
Since Truman’s arrival, the US has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis in the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of an American warship group may have spark renewed attacks from the rebels.
On Saturday night and early Sunday, US warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, controlled by the Houthis since 2014. The US Central Command, stated the mission aimed to destroy the enemy “missile storage facility” and the “command-and-control facility.”
Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeida, without offering any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, strikes particularly targeted the mountainside proclaimed to be home to military installations. The Houthis later acknowledged the shot down aircraft in the Red Sea.
Since the inception of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip the Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels using missiles and drones.
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More recently, the Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two, killing four sailors during the campaign. Other missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions or failed to reach their targets, which include Western military vessels.
The rebels maintain attacking ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked had little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The Houthis have also increasingly targeted Israel with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.
