USS Gettysburg Shoots Down F/A-18

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MIflyer

1st Lieutenant
7,191
14,906
May 30, 2011
Cape Canaveral
I recall when a USN F-14 shot down a USAF RF-4C in the mid-80's during an exercise. Those guys knew what they were doing but did it anyway. In this case it appears to be a genuine error, with the F-18 being identified as hostile. I suppose that is still a better outcome than what happened to the USS Starke. As in the RF-4C case, the F-18 crew ejected safely.

Two Navy pilots safely ejected from their F/A-18 into the Red Sea, with one sustaining minor injuries, according to military officials cited by multiple reports.
The USS Gettysburg "mistakenly fired on" the jet shortly after it flew off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, the U.S. military's Central Command reportedly said.
The jet shot down was reportedly a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to the "Red Rippers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, according to the military's description.
Central Command did not elaborate on how the mix-up occurred, but said the U.S. military earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship rebel cruise missile and that sailors in the past have had just seconds to make decisions about how to respond to Houthi attacks.
 
The best take I've seen on the incident is here (a lot of information anyway, not sure how much is correct):

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYOsX2GpX4

They say the F-18s were in trail on a case 3 recovery when targeted by the Gettysburg, which fired two SM2s. The first set of aircrew ejected about three seconds prior to missile impact, and the second aircraft narrowly avoided the second missile (which may have been command disabled/detonated). There are reports of IFF failure, and some speculation that the time changeover had something to do with it.
 
They say the F-18s were in trail on a case 3 recovery when targeted by the Gettysburg, which fired two SM2s.
The best news is that the other F-18 did not retaliate by firing on the USS Gettysburg.

In WWII an RP-63 was being used to simulate an attacking fighter on B-24's being used for gunner training over the desert. The RP-63 had a layer of armor over the entire aircraft and the gunners were firing special frangible bullets, but the fighter was still damaged by a burst of fire. This resulted in an angry exchange over the radio between the fighter pilot and the B-24 pilot, which ended when the RP-63 rammed the B-24, a propeller cutting the tail off the fighter. The pilot bailed out and parachuted successfully while the B-24 landed with no problem. When told of the incident the commander of the unit ordered that the RP-63 pilot be dropped some water, food, and a sleeping bag, with a note saying that his commander hoped he enjoyed his long walk back to the base.
 

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