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.
Wow, something tells me the military had some editorial input on this article. In all kinds of materials, including General Moseley’s own statements, the MQ-9 Reaper is a hunter-killer drone. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper)
I mean its possible they might actually be using them only for surveillance without anything on the hardpoints due to the larger range, but I like how the wikipedia file photo is a reaper carrying two hellfire AGMs and a fat paveway LGB for good measure.
“Surveillance” lol
Maybe the Reaper version is the optioned-up spec of the base MQ-9.
Missiles As A Service subscription tier.
Politico is desperately trying to get that USAID funding back.