Did Yemen’s Ansurullah Shoot Down a U.S. Navy F-18F Fighter? Assessing Conflicting Claims

<p >During an intensified series of clashes between the Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition and U.S., British and Israeli forces, a U.S. Navy F-18F Super Hornet fighter was reported to have been shot down. Ansurullah Coalition forces claimed responsibility for shooting down the fighter, with military spokesman Yahya Saree stating: “Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and several of its accompanying destroyers were targeted as the aggressive attack on Yemen began last night.” This operation “was carried out using eight cruise missiles and 17 drones, resulting in the downing of an F-18 fighter jet while the destroyers attempted to intercept the Yemeni drones and missiles." The U.S. Central Command, by contrast, asserted that the cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down the F-18 while it was taking off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. The Ansurullah Coalition has been engaged in <a href=" >ongoing hostilities </a>with the United States Armed Forces and several of its Western allies for over a year, with U.S. officials having expressed <a href=" >considerable amazement </a>at its military capabilities in the past. </p><p ><img src=" title="Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition Forces on Parade"></p><p >Conflicting claims between the two opposing sides have fuelled considerable speculation as to the circumstances of the shootdown of the F-18. Historically it has been far from uncommon for the United States and other countries with significant combat aviation industries to attribute combat losses of their aircraft to friendly fire or malfunctions for reputational reasons. Should Yemeni claims regarding a shootdown be correct, therefore, it would be far from unexpected that the U.S. Navy would seek to downplay its adversary’s success, and limit the resulting public relations fallout, by claiming it was a result of friendly fire. The fact that the Ansurullah Coalition has a negligible fighter fleet, and would be highly unlikely to deploy its fighters so close to an American carrier, raises questions regarding the possibility of the F-18F having been mistaken for an enemy aircraft. The fact that the Ansurullah Coalition has demonstrated <a href=" target="_blank">advanced anti-aircraft capabilities</a> in the past, including, with the downing of over ten MQ-9 Reaper drones during hostilities with U.S. forces, indicates that their claim to have shot down an F-18 may be credible. The coalition has achieved confirmed shootdowns of similarly advanced fighters in the past, including Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA aircraft. </p><p >The U.S., Israel and other Western Bloc states are expected to further intensify military operations in Yemen, as following the <a href=" target="_blank">defeat of the Syrian government</a> on December 8 it remains the only state in the Arab Middle East outside the Western sphere of influence.</p>