A Navy fighter jet fell overboard Monday when the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier veered to avoid fire from the Houthis, according to two defense officials.

The military was using the $60 million jet as part of its weekslong campaign against Houthi fighters in Yemen, who have attacked commercial and military shipping in the waterway for the past two years.

The aircraft’s loss adds to the growing price tag in the effort against the Houthis, which has included seven MQ-9 drones shot down by the group over the past several weeks. The Houthis have brought down more than a dozen of the surveillance drones since October 2023, when they began attacking ships in the Red Sea to, as they said, help Hamas in its war with Stop the genocide committed by Israel. They cost more than $20 million each.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 days ago

    I’m shocked that the ship can maneuver quickly enough to 1) affect the outcome of a missile attack, 2) create enough force to toss a plane off the side.

    I would have figured the protocol is to have the CIWS and interceptor launchers at an appropriate angle to intercept the attack prior to the missiles being launched.

        • Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 days ago

          That’s incredible. Thanks for sharing!

          It is indeed, but I think your question still stands non? That doesn’t look like it’s fast enough to avoid a missile?

        • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          That carrier is using steam powered propellers. Luckily the steam is “pushed” by a couple of large nuclear reactors, so it’s got plenty of juice.

          • peoplebeproblems@midwest.social
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            3 days ago

            What

            Those are STEAM POWERED? good lord that’s more oomph than I was expecting I was thinking we had some giant ass motors creating some crazy ass electromagnatisim

            • Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org
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              3 days ago

              Those are STEAM POWERED? good lord that’s more oomph than I was expecting I was thinking we had some giant ass motors creating some crazy ass electromagnatisim

            • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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              3 days ago

              100% steam. Steam makes the electricity, locomotion, desalination and the plane catapults go on that class of carrier. The reactors and salt water make the various types of steam used in the various systems.

              Limitless water is a neat hack when you couple it with limitless heat.

              • wabafee@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                I’m amaze how advance everything is but we’re still using steam like the people from the industrial revolution. The only difference is instead of coal were using nuclear reaction. I do wonder why we’re not using some kind passive way instead through mechanical way to generate electricity.

                • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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                  2 days ago

                  There is no form factor of power generation that could match nuclear on something as “small” and dense as an aircraft carrier.

                  Solar is a no go due to just surface area and the challenges of salt water. The only consistent things left are petrol and nuclear, and of the two, nuclear is better in every way but cost.

                  It is wacky that “hot rock make steam. Steam makes turbine go” is how like 95% of all civilization exists, but man when we stumbled on a winner in the 1800s, we just went all in on it.

      • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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        3 days ago

        An actual A2A kill with a Shahed on an F18 would be way bigger news. As would a hit on the carrier. What else could be the way it happened?

        • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldOP
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          2 days ago

          There have been previous reports of aircraft carriers “hitting a rock” and having to go for repairs.

          Maybe it is true. But the US no doubt would like to keep up the illusion that it can intercept all missiles with easy and its personell is in no danger.

          Remember how the Biden admin kept a US soldier dying to the “Gaza pier” secret for a long time.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      3 days ago

      And this is when we remind ourselves that the US hasn’t fought an enemy that can shoot back with anything other than guns in decades. They have late-stage Israel syndrome.

      • real_squids@sopuli.xyz
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        3 days ago

        They have late-stage Israel syndrome.

        Don’t ignore the fact those guys were hit with a load of ballistic and cruise missiles recently and did alright. Not to mention drones and rocket arty on the regular.
        I do agree the US are wildly overspending in the era of disposable unmanned-everything though, and this one incident isn’t gonna change their ways.

        spoiler

        I just hope both sides have fun ☺️