A Navy fighter jet fell overboard Monday when the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier veered to avoid fire from the Houthis, according to two defense officials.
The military was using the $60 million jet as part of its weekslong campaign against Houthi fighters in Yemen, who have attacked commercial and military shipping in the waterway for the past two years.
The aircraft’s loss adds to the growing price tag in the effort against the Houthis, which has included seven MQ-9 drones shot down by the group over the past several weeks. The Houthis have brought down more than a dozen of the surveillance drones since October 2023, when they began attacking ships in the Red Sea to, as they said, help Hamas in its war with Stop the genocide committed by Israel. They cost more than $20 million each.
Common Houthi W
Empire pumps so many resources into the MIC that planes are literally falling off their boats.
Given that our ships there are carrying out terrorist attacks on Yemen, a nation that is puting material pressure to stop the genocide in Gaza. Something that is REQUIRED by international law.
Yeah. Good riddance. Hope all the US ships out there sink with all the aircraft.
Free Palestine.
Yeah, I got the text from Hegseth when it happened. They’re clear on OPSEC though.
When I was a kid my dad didn’t properly tie down a lounge chair on the trailer. Although we didn’t lose the chair avoiding a Houthi attack, we did have to go back and pick it up on the highway.
So I can totally relate /s
I’m shocked that the ship can maneuver quickly enough to 1) affect the outcome of a missile attack, 2) create enough force to toss a plane off the side.
I would have figured the protocol is to have the CIWS and interceptor launchers at an appropriate angle to intercept the attack prior to the missiles being launched.
They can, nuclear carriers can absolutely move:
the benefit of electric power that makes it way better than anything
t o r q u e
That carrier is using steam powered propellers. Luckily the steam is “pushed” by a couple of large nuclear reactors, so it’s got plenty of juice.
What
Those are STEAM POWERED? good lord that’s more oomph than I was expecting I was thinking we had some giant ass motors creating some crazy ass electromagnatisim
Those are STEAM POWERED? good lord that’s more oomph than I was expecting I was thinking we had some giant ass motors creating some crazy ass electromagnatisim
100% steam. Steam makes the electricity, locomotion, desalination and the plane catapults go on that class of carrier. The reactors and salt water make the various types of steam used in the various systems.
Limitless water is a neat hack when you couple it with limitless heat.
My favorite Minecraft builds.
I’m amaze how advance everything is but we’re still using steam like the people from the industrial revolution. The only difference is instead of coal were using nuclear reaction. I do wonder why we’re not using some kind passive way instead through mechanical way to generate electricity.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. We’re gonna use a Dyson Swarm to boil water…
There is no form factor of power generation that could match nuclear on something as “small” and dense as an aircraft carrier.
Solar is a no go due to just surface area and the challenges of salt water. The only consistent things left are petrol and nuclear, and of the two, nuclear is better in every way but cost.
It is wacky that “hot rock make steam. Steam makes turbine go” is how like 95% of all civilization exists, but man when we stumbled on a winner in the 1800s, we just went all in on it.
That’s incredible. Thanks for sharing!
That’s incredible. Thanks for sharing!
It is indeed, but I think your question still stands non? That doesn’t look like it’s fast enough to avoid a missile?
Not all missiles are guided, and even guidance isn’t perfect.
Not all missiles are guided
without guidance they’re just rockets, not missiles
Wow, that’s very impressive. Almost a 45 degree tilt?
It is possible the story has been slightly embellished and the Houthis downed it in a different way.
An actual A2A kill with a Shahed on an F18 would be way bigger news. As would a hit on the carrier. What else could be the way it happened?
There have been previous reports of aircraft carriers “hitting a rock” and having to go for repairs.
Maybe it is true. But the US no doubt would like to keep up the illusion that it can intercept all missiles with easy and its personell is in no danger.
Remember how the Biden admin kept a US soldier dying to the “Gaza pier” secret for a long time.
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And this is when we remind ourselves that the US hasn’t fought an enemy that can shoot back with anything other than guns in decades. They have late-stage Israel syndrome.
They have late-stage Israel syndrome.
Don’t ignore the fact those guys were hit with a load of ballistic and cruise missiles recently and did alright. Not to mention drones and rocket arty on the regular.
I do agree the US are wildly overspending in the era of disposable unmanned-everything though, and this one incident isn’t gonna change their ways.spoiler
I just hope both sides have fun ☺️
I just hope both sides kill each other and leave the civilians be.
seven MQ-9 drones shot down by the group over the past several weeks. The Houthis have brought down more than a dozen of the surveillance drones (emphasis mine)
Wow, something tells me the military had some editorial input on this article. In all kinds of materials, including General Moseley’s own statements, the MQ-9 Reaper is a hunter-killer drone. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper)
I mean its possible they might actually be using them only for surveillance without anything on the hardpoints due to the larger range, but I like how the wikipedia file photo is a reaper carrying two hellfire AGMs and a fat paveway LGB for good measure.
“Surveillance” lol
Maybe the Reaper version is the optioned-up spec of the base MQ-9.
Missiles As A Service subscription tier.
Politico is desperately trying to get that USAID funding back.
Is this some kind of insurance scam thing?
I guess that’s cheaper than loosing a whole ship.
F/A-18E
That’s not a young jet, but apparently we still have the production line active for a while longer. I suppose if the Navy wants another one, they can still get them.
Boeing to shutter Super Hornet line in 2027 after final Navy order: Boeing VP
The Shornet is a nice platform, and it’s been upgraded to hell to be a real game-breaker.
But the real issue is the Navy can’t operate a procurement program to save its life, hence it was forced to take the F-35 because basically all its other attempts were absolute catastrophes.
The only thing it’s been able to build effectively as been their CVNs (which are just updated copies of the Nimitz from the 1960s) and the SHornet which is a massively upgraded F-5 from the 1960s.
The A-12 Dorito failed miserably, as did the LCS, the Virginia cost 3x what it was supposed to, the Zumwalt has no bullets and the radar basically doesn’t work, so they’re building more Arleigh-Burkes which are upgraded Spruances from again, the 1970s.
The Navy really really does suck at procurement.
Don’t forget about the Tomcat! That guy lasted longer than it had any right to TBH.
Wasn’t it the subject of a videogame for the Commodore Amiga?
Could be. I don’t think that it’s that old, though. Maybe the original Hornet rather than the Super Hornet, which was a smaller aircraft.
kagis
Yeah. The game F/A-18 Interceptor is probably what you’re thinking of. It came out in 1988, and the Super Hornet was only produced starting in 1995.
Despite the fact that they both share an identifier (“F/A-18<revision>”), I think that it’d probably be fair to call the Hornet and the Super Hornet different planes. I don’t think that there’s been another case where we’ve produced a warplane and then made a significantly-larger aircraft and used the same identifier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet
The Navy retained the F/A-18 designation to help sell the program to Congress as a low-risk “derivative”, though the Super Hornet is largely a new aircraft.
so glad this is where we put all our money into. not silly things like health or clean power or transportation. instead I say let’s invest another 300 mill and get ten replacements 😎😂
Would it cost more than $60 mil to recover it from the ocean?
It would definitely cost more than that to restore it after that dip.
If I was the US, I’d even send some depth charges after it to make sure the Chinese don’t go fishing.
The salt water would have a negative effect on it.
There might be a slew of still salvageable parts I would think. I guess the question is how salvageable, how complicated to recover, and how much those parts would be worth.
I love it. Go Houthis*!
*Only applies to Israel-related activities.
You’re not wrong. Yemen is the only country (at least to this material degree) following international law requiring all nations to take every action possible to stop a genocide.
And then you have the US taking every action possible to ensure that genocide is continued in Gaza.
Houthis are in the right here.
