A US official has told CNN that the US Navy lost a F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet that fell off the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea during a Houthi attack on the US warship.
The Navy said in a statement that the $60 million jet was “actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard.”
The Navy said the sailors “took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard” and that one sustained minor injuries in the incident. The US official speaking to CNN said the F/A-18 fell overboard while the Harry Truman was making a hard turn to avoid a Houthi attack.
Earlier in the day, the military spokesman for the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, announced missile and drone attacks on the Harry Truman and its accompanying warships.
The Houthi spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the attacks were in retaliation for the US strike that targeted a migrant detention facility in Saada, killing 68, and a US bombing of a residential area of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, which reportedly caused dozens of civilian casualties.
The Houthi attack on the Harry Truman marked the second time in the past year that the US lost an F/A-18 in the Red Sea. In December 2024, the US military announced that it lost an F/A-18 in a “friendly fire” incident in the Red Sea. According to reports at the time, the jet was shot down right after a Houthi missile and drone attack, suggesting it was mistaken for a projectile fired from Yemen.
The US has also lost about 21 MQ-9 Reaper drones to Yemeni air defenses since October 2023. Each MQ-9 costs about $30 million a piece, which means the US has lost $630 million worth of drones in a year and a half. US officials have said the Houthis are getting better at targeting MQ-9s, as they’ve taken down seven in recent weeks.
While the massive US bombing campaign on Yemen has failed to deter the Houthis, it has taken a significant toll on civilians. Ansar Allah leaders have repeatedly vowed they will only stop attacks on Israel and end their blockade on Israeli shipping if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. They have offered to stop attacking US warships if the US stops bombing Yemen, but the Trump administration has shown no interest in the offer.
