Second US Navy fighter jet narrowly avoided being shot down in ‘friendly fire’ incident: source

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EXCLUSIVE: On the same night a U.S. Navy fighter jet was shot down over the Red Sea, a second jet nearly suffered the same fate. An F/A-18 Super Hornet – flying a few miles behind the Hornet that was shot down – was forced to take evasive maneuvers after a second surface-to-air missile was fired from the cruiser USS Gettysburg, narrowly missing the second jet by 100 feet while it prepared to land aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, a source with knowledge of the incident tells Fox News. 

A Navy official confirmed that a second SM-2 missile was fired from USS Gettysburg, adding that the Navy is investigating whether that missile was targeting the second jet. 

The Navy is also looking into whether the USS Gettysburg switched off the guidance system on the second missile. The near shoot-down of a second U.S. Navy jet has not been previously reported.  

U.S. Central Command, responsible for leading airstrikes in the Middle East, including the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, said in a statement about the “friendly fire” incident earlier this week: “The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64), which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18, which was flying off the USS Harry S. Truman.”

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A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft soars above the Baltic Sea Region, June 9, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Swift)

The source said that is not correct. The F/A-18 Super Hornet was attempting to land aboard Truman when it was shot down after performing a midair refueling mission for jets carrying out airstrikes over Yemen, the source said. 

“It was a tanker crew returning to land on the carrier about 10 miles out. They recognized the missile was guiding and punched out about three seconds before the missile hit the jet,” the source said. 

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A fighter jet maneuvers on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The pilot and weapons systems officer ejected and were picked up by a rescue helicopter and returned to the carrier. One suffered “minor injuries,” according to a Centcom statement. 

Neither U.S. Central Command nor the Pentagon has disclosed a second American fighter jet was fired upon by the cruiser and narrowly avoided getting shot down as well. 

“The cruiser almost shot down two friendly jets,” the source said.  

On the night of the “friendly fire” incident, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on X its “forces conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana’a, Yemen, on Dec. 21 Yemen time.”

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg steams in the Mediterranean Sea, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP)

There have not been any more strikes against the Houthis from Truman since the friendly fire incident. 

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Navy pilots are angry about the incident and question the training aboard the USS Gettysburg, the source said, calling it “insufficient.” 

The “friendly fire” incident took place days after the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Red Sea. The Dec. 21 strikes against the Houthis were the first for the strike group since arriving off the coast of Yemen. 

On the night Truman launched airstrikes against the Houthis, the American warships came under fire, which may have contributed to the “friendly fire” incident. 

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In the statement announcing the strikes, Centcom said, “During the [Dec. 21] operation, CENTCOM forces also shot down multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.” 

Lucas Y. Tomlinson serves as a correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, DC. Follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews