US Forces Mistakenly Shoot Down Allied Fighter Jets in Honghae... Pilots Escape Safely

EPA Yonhap News

In response to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, a U.S. military aircraft was mistakenly shot down by friendly forces after being deployed in the Red Sea.

According to the AP news agency and others on the 22nd (local time), the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, Egypt, and West Asia, announced that a U.S. Navy F-18 fighter jet was shot down due to "friendly fire" over the Red Sea. Central Command explained that the aircraft was shot down due to a launch error by the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, a member of the carrier strike group, immediately after the fighter jet took off from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman to carry out its mission.

Both pilots aboard the downed fighter jet successfully ejected safely. However, one of them reportedly sustained minor injuries. The AP news agency analyzed, "Since the ships in the carrier strike group are connected via radar and communications, it is still unclear how the USS Gettysburg mistakenly identified the downed F-18 as an enemy aircraft or missile."

This incident occurred around the time the U.S. military conducted airstrikes targeting the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. Central Command stated that U.S. Air Force and Navy F-18 fighter jets carried out precision airstrikes on rebel command and control facilities and missile storage sites in Sana'a between the night of the 21st and early morning of the 22nd. The rebels responded with anti-ship cruise missiles and drones, but all were shot down over the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni rebels claimed responsibility for shooting down the U.S. Navy F-18 fighter jet on the same day, according to Russian news agency TASS. Since the Palestinian armed group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel in October last year, triggering the Gaza war, the Yemeni rebels have indiscriminately attacked ships passing through the Red Sea since November of the same year, vowing to blockade the sea until Israeli forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

As the Red Sea, a key trade route connecting Asia and Europe, faced the risk of being blocked, the United States formed a multinational fleet with the United Kingdom and others and has occasionally bombed rebel military facilities in Yemen since early this year.