Victory At Sea, Friendly Fire Version?

This is the official version:

MenchOsint @MenchOsint

Last night's American attack against Yemen, followed by the loss of a $70 million F/A-18F Super Hornet, marked the first operation for the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group since its arrival in the region.

Prior to its deployment in the Red Sea, it was conducting exercices in the North Sea for 6 weeks.

Back to the North Sea for more exercises?

Fox expands the narrative:

Two US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent 'friendly fire' incident: US military

The pilots were found alive after they ejected from their aircraft

The military said the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the "Red Rippers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, according to Central Command. On Dec. 15, Central Command said the Truman had entered the Mideast, but did not specify that the carrier and its battle group were in the Red Sea.

"The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18," Central Command said in a statement.

It is unclear how the Gettysburg had mistaked an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly since ships in a battle group are linked by radar and radio communication.

The phrase “had just flown off the deck” suggests the shootdown occurred in the context of launch operations. On the other hand, the safe ejection suggests that the two man crew had enough warning to make the decision to eject—precious seconds at close range—which does raise the question of how much distance there was between the aircraft and the missile when first picked up, or when the crew were warned (By USS Harry? Ticonderoga? By their onboard systems?) to eject? Or what?

There are two possibilities. The first is friendly fire. That’s hugely disturbing as regards US military preparedness. The more likely scenario than the Fox one (that this was shortly after take-off) is that this happened upon return—with the plane headed toward USS Harry. Imagine how much training for carrier battle groups and the pilots goes into avoiding shooting down our own returning planes! USS Harry sailed around the North Sea for six weeks running exercises that were certainly directed at avoiding planes getting shot down by the Houthis—but also aimed at avoiding mistakes like this is supposed to have been. So the first time they try it it’s a major fail?

The other possibility, of course, is that the Houthis shot the plane down. That presumes that the US military is lying to us. Is that possible? Likely? Is the pope Catholic? Well, OK, let me put it this way—does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? And how many troops have been in Syria for how long?

At the least we can say that this narrative is suspect and deserving of scrutiny. That’s what Brandon Weichert is saying, and his reasoning seems sound to me (follow the link for more, including multiple videos):

Here's why the story about a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet getting taken down in a friendly fire incident by a US Navy destroyer while engaged in anti-Houthi operations is suspect... 1/ 

2/ First, a primer. F/A-18 Super Hornets are the primary fourth-generation warplane utilized by both the US Navy and Marine Corps. In this case, the F/A-18F, carrying a pilot and a weapons systems officer. 

3/ These birds are some of the best in the world. They come equipped with an insane amount of detection and defensive capabilities to avoid being shot down. Systems, such as the AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispenser, for instance, help deflect incoming missiles.

4/ Other systems, like the AN/ALE-50 towed decoy, have become essential in ensuring the F/A-18s of the US Navy's fleet remain dominant in the unfriendly skies of the world's nastiest hotspots.

5/ Then there's subsystems, such as the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) and the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) that all help the F/A-18's crew to have state-of-the-art situational awareness.

6/ Overlayed with all these defensive and detection systems is the fact that the F/A-18s participate in a complex interplay between themselves and the carrier group that they are deployed from. Basically, there are multiple redundancies put into place to prevent friendly fire.

7/ The official story is that elements operating from the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) were returning to the carrier after bombing a missile base and command node belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi Rebels in Yemen...

8/ when the USS Gettysburg (CG-64), a Ticonderoga-Class Guided Missile Destroyer, fired upon the bird. The crew ejected over the Red Sea and were safely recovered with one crew member receiving minor injuries.

9/ The Navy insists that this was a friendly fire incident and that the matter "will be investigated thoroughly." But this was the same Navy that claimed ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happened over the summer to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

10/ What we now know is that a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile came within 200 meters (656 feet) of the US carrier Eisenhower over the summer. So, again, the Navy was, at the very least, downplaying the seriousness of the Houthi missile threat.

Near misses, of course, are very far from being ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It’s even possible that the near miss was a warning shot, a la Iran’s known MO. In that case, this could have been an escalation—unless the US military is telling the truth.

11/ Now again we are presented with a massive downplaying of the Houthi missile threat. The fact of the matter is that the likelihood the Navy shot its own plane down, even if with the Biden Regime's military being so painfully incompetent, doesn't pass the smell test. 

12/ If the Navy is being honest about the target sets in their recent strike on the Houthis (which included a missile storage facility and a "key command node") then you can bet these facilities were ringed with anti-aircraft defenses.

13/ And the Iranians have been developing some interesting capabilities in terms of air defenses and they have been using the Houthis as their missile testing agency for years. We've already seen this play out with anti-ship technology.

…

16/ Therefore, demonstrating to the incoming Trump administration, which is populated by a cadre of Iran hawks, that the Houthis (and by extension their Iranian backers) have real capabilities that could stymie US power projection is a key priority for the Shiite Axis.

17/ But just think about this: the Biden Regime has become so incompetent that their Pentagon is floating a cover story of simple incompetence on the part of the US Navy being the cause of the F/A-18F shoot down. That's how far we've fallen.

…

That should give pause for thought.

Now Weichert goes on to argue that we need to bomb the sh*t out of the Houthis to “restore deterrence”. As if that hasn’t been tried for more than a decade. That’s the Israeli approach—I’ve got a hammer and everything else is a nail, that makes me invincible. Weichert says this will prevent a “major war” in the region. Uh, maybe that would start a major war? And, anyway, the real question we should be asking is whether we’re ready for any of the above. Presumably, after USS Ike skedaddled out of reach of the Houthis following its close encounter with disaster, its temp replacement, USS Abe, avoided coming within range. One presumes that, based on the warnings from the Ike’s captain about how scary the Houthi attacks had become, Harry arrived with new tactics and possibly new tech in place, all worked on during six weeks of exercises.

Bottom line: It’s time to rethink our strategy for power projection. I sure hope Trump is paying attention and is demanding some honest intel briefings.