The pilot of a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet shot down by an American missile in the Red Sea has written an account of the experience in an X post. Although the post has not been verified by the Navy, according to The Aviationist it appears to match the events known about the incident, which occurred Dec. 22 during a strike on Yemen by aircraft from the USS Harry S. Truman. The pilot, call sign Fig, said he saw the SM-2 anti-aircraft missile launch from the USS Gettysburg and that he and his weapons systems operator, call sign Blunder, ejected moments before the missile hit the aircraft.
“SM-2 rocket motor was lit for the entire time. I saw the missile make a correction to lead pursuit (yes I know what that looks like), and then come back to pure, and I asked [B]lunder “[D]ude, you want to get out?” Fig wrote that the ejection was “the most violent five seconds of anything I’ve ever experienced” and detailed the time spent in the life raft before finally getting rescued. The aviators’ aircraft was acting as a tanker at the time of the incident and was heading back to the Truman after transferring fuel to two fighters guarding the carrier group.
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