The Navy’s investigation into a dramatic friendly fire incident over the Red Sea has revealed how a US warship mistakenly shot down an American fighter jet and nearly destroyed two others, a cascading failure that one surviving pilot described as the moment he watched his life flash before his eyes.
The late-December 2024 crisis unfolded as the cruiser USS Gettysburg, deployed with the USS Harry S. Truman strike group, misidentified two F/A-18 Super Hornets as incoming Houthi cruise missiles.
The jets belonged to Strike Fighter Squadron 11, the “Red Rippers,” and were returning from operations against Iran-backed Houthi forces. With tensions at their peak and the crew already engaged in intercepting hostile drones and missiles, the warship launched surface-to-air weapons at what it believed were threats racing toward the fleet.
What happened instead was a near catastrophe.
The first missile streaked upward from the Gettysburg’s launch tubes. The two aviators aboard the targeted Super Hornet initially assumed the weapon was engaging a Houthi drone they had been hunting. That changed when the missile abruptly altered course. It was coming for them.
The pilot told investigators the realization was instant: his life flashed before him. With seconds to spare, he and his weapons officer ejected as the missile slammed into their jet, a $60 million aircraft that disintegrated in midair. Both survived.
The chaos intensified as the Gettysburg, still convinced it was under attack, fired again. The second missile locked onto another nearby American jet. Its pilot made repeated mayday calls while attempting to outmaneuver the incoming weapon.
The missile followed, adjusting its trajectory as it chased the aircraft through the sky. It missed only by feet, close enough to violently shake the jet before burning out and plunging into the water.
A third friendly aircraft came under targeting consideration, investigators found, though no missile was launched.
A Navy helicopter commander who witnessed the event said his crew saw the missile “flash overhead” without warning, describing a scene that unfolded faster than anyone could process.
The Navy’s command investigation, reviewed by Business Insider, paints a stark picture of systemic breakdowns. The Gettysburg had been operating with serious degradation to its core combat systems, including network management, surveillance capability, identification tools, and weapons coordination.
Communication gaps compounded the problem. For much of the deployment, the cruiser and the Truman operated apart, making real-time threat assessment more difficult. Fatigue among the crew may also have played a role.
Although the Gettysburg had been intercepting genuine Houthi threats shortly before the incident, the investigation concluded that the ship’s commanding officer “made the wrong decision when measured against the totality of available information.” The captain’s situational awareness was low, and the combat information center was unable to help him regain clarity during the unfolding crisis.
The shootdown was the most serious friendly fire incident of the Red Sea campaign, though not the only one. In February 2024, a German warship accidentally fired on a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, with the missiles falling short due to a radar malfunction.
The Truman strike group’s deployment was marked by a series of mishaps, including a collision with a cargo ship in February and the loss of two other F/A-18s—one swept overboard with a tow tractor in April, and another that skidded off the flight deck in May after a landing failure.
In a statement Thursday, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby said the service must absorb the lessons of these incidents. “The Navy is committed to being a learning organization,” he said. “These investigations reinforce the need to continue investing in our people to ensure we deliver battle-ready forces to operational commanders.”
