On December 15, the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman sailed through the Suez Canal to reach the US CENTCOM area of responsibility. [commandement pour le Moyen-Orient et l’Asie centrale] and participate in Operation Prosperity Guardian [Gardien de la prospérité]launched by the United States in December 2023 to protect maritime traffic in the Red Sea against attacks carried out from Yemen by Houthi rebels [liés à l’Iran].
Within “Carrier Strike Group 8”, the USS Harry Truman is escorted in particular by the cruiser USS Gettysburg [classe Ticonderoga]responsible for coordinating its air defense, as well as by the Arleigh Burke-type “destroyers” USS Stout, USS The Sullivans and USS Jason Dunham.
It did not take long for the American carrier group to take stock of the situation in the Red Sea. On December 21, according to a US CENTCOM press release, Carrier Air Wing 1 [CVW-1]that is to say the air group of the USS Harry Truman, was requested to carry out “precision strikes” against a missile depot and a command and control center used by the Houthis in the region of Sanaa [Yémen].
During this sequence, several kamikaze drones [ou munitions téléopérées, MTO] and an anti-ship cruise missile were shot down over the Red Sea.
Then, during the night of December 21 to 22, around 3 a.m. [heure locale]in circumstances which remain to be clarified, an F/A-18F Super Hornet from CVW-1 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by the USS Gettysburg, when it had just been catapulted from the USS Harry Truman.
Both pilots were able to eject from their aircraft. “Recovered safe and sound”, the “first assessments” indicate that one of them suffers from “minor injuries”, indicated US CENTCOM. And added: “This incident was not due to enemy fire and a thorough investigation is underway.”
Theoretically, IFF systems [Identification Friend or Foe / identification ami ou ennemi]associated with target identification procedures [positive ID] by two different sources and to tactical data links [L16] are supposed to avoid such errors.
However, this incident is not the first in the Red Sea. In February, the German frigate Hessen fired two Standard Missile 2 surface-to-air missiles [SM2] towards an American MQ-9A Reaper drone which she had considered to be hostile. But, due to a “technical fault”, they could not hit their target. A priori, the aircraft had not activated its IFF system. Hence the misunderstanding.
Photo : F/A-18F du Strike Fighter Squadron [VFA] 11 « The Red Rippers » – US Navy
