US Coast Guard ship nearly shot down two friendly fighter jets in the Red Sea

Fox News reported on December 24 that a second US fighter jet narrowly avoided a missile mistakenly launched by a US coast guard ship, after the first fighter jet was hit and exploded.

Cruiser USS Gettysburg

On the night of December 21, the US Navy's USS Gettysburg patrol ship mistakenly fired a missile at an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet taking off from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, according to information from the US Central Command on December 22.

Both the pilot and co-pilot of the F/A-18 Super Hornet survived by ejecting from the aircraft before the missile hit. One suffered minor injuries.

However, on December 24, Fox News quoted a well-informed source as saying that a second F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet flying behind the first fighter jet was also targeted by the coast guard ship and fired a missile.

When the SM-2 missile was only about 30 meters away, the fighter pilot quickly responded and controlled the fighter to avoid it. Fox News also reported that the two fighters were shot down while landing on the aircraft carrier after an air campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen and successfully carrying out an aerial refueling mission.

"The coast guard ship almost shot down two friendly planes," a source told Fox News.

US Navy must change to counter 'Iran's best' weapons in the Red Sea

The US Central Command had not previously mentioned the incident involving the second aircraft. After Fox News reported the incident, a US Navy official acknowledged that the USS Gettysburg had fired the second missile, adding that the force was investigating whether another fighter jet was the target.

According to the source, US Navy pilots were extremely angry about the shooting of their comrade and questioned the lack of training of the coast guard ship crew.

It is reported that the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman stopped attacking Houthi after the incident on December 21.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tau-tuan-duyen-my-suyt-nua-ban-ha-2-tiem-kich-dong-doi-o-bien-do-185241225112740029.htm