Follow us on social

F/A-18C Hornet USS Harry S. Truman

F-18 rolls off US carrier as it turns to avoid Houthi fire

$67 million fighter sinks to the bottom of the ocean amid increasingly expensive air campaign

Reporting | QiOSK

Today the US Navy lost a F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet — worth at least $67 million — when it fell off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier as it took a hard turn to avoid Houthi fire.

The USS Truman is stationed in the Red Sea as part of the U.S.’ ongoing anti-Houthi campaign, also known as Operation Rough Rider.

“The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard,” a statement from the Navy read. “Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.”

The Navy emphasized Monday that the Truman Carrier Strike Group, which has been targeted repeatedly by the Houthis, “remain[s] fully mission capable.”

To date, the U.S. has spent about $3 billion in its recent anti-Houthi campaign since it began in mid-March, hitting over 800 targets in Yemen, and killing hundreds of civilians, in the process. And now, the accidental loss of a fighter jet instantaneously adds tens of millions to that total.

The billions the U.S. has spent in this campaign have resulted in questionable outcomes. CENTCOM says its efforts have degraded Houthi fighting capacities; yet CNN reporting from last month suggested the campaign has only had limited results against them. Earlier this month the New York Times reported that in closed briefings, “Pentagon officials have acknowledged that there has been only limited success in destroying the Houthis’ vast, largely underground arsenal of missiles, drones and launchers.”

Critically, the U.S. says its anti-Houthi campaign is about ensuring ships can go through the Red Sea without getting attacked by them. But they’re hitting at a group with other objectives, namely, pressuring U.S. ally Israel to stop its onslaught against the Gaza strip. All the while, prospects of renewed civil war in Yemen — which the U.S. has said it could be open to participating in — have only grown.


Top image credit: An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Checkerboards of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 312 launches from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in 2010. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Tyler Caswell)
Reporting | QiOSK
President Trump with reporters
Top photo credit: President Donald Trump speaks with members of the media at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on Sunday, September 7, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

Is Israel forcing Trump to be the capitulator in chief?

Middle East

President Donald Trump told reporters outside a Washington restaurant Tuesday evening that he is deeply displeased with Israel’s bombardment of Qatar, a close U.S. partner in the Persian Gulf that, at Washington’s request, has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012.

“I am not thrilled about it. I am not thrilled about the whole situation,” Trump said, denying that Israel had given him advance notice. “I was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect of it,” he continued. “We’ve got to get the hostages back. But I was very unhappy with the way that went down.”

keep readingShow less
Europe Ukraine
Top image credit: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, President of Ukraine, Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the UK, and Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, emerge from St. Mary's Palace for a press conference as part of the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Kiev, May 10 2025, Kay Nietfeld/dpa via Reuters Connect

Is Europe deliberately sabotaging Ukraine War negotiations?

Europe

After last week’s meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in Paris, 26 countries have supposedly agreed to contribute — in some fashion — to a military force that would be deployed on Ukrainian soil after hostilities have concluded.

Three weeks prior, at the Anchorage leaders’ summit press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Ukraine’s security should be ensured as part of any negotiated settlement. But Russian officials have continued to reiterate that this cannot take the form of Western combat forces stationed in Ukraine. In the wake of last week’s meeting, Putin has upped the ante by declaring that any such troops would be legitimate targets for the Russian military.

keep readingShow less
After bombing, time to demystify the 'Qatar lobby'
Top photo credit: The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, is standing third from the left in the front row, alongside the Minister of Culture of Qatar, Abdulrahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is at the center, and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Oman, Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, who is second from the right in Doha, Qatar, on May 9, 2024. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto)

After bombing, time to demystify the 'Qatar lobby'

Middle East

On Tuesday, Israel bombed Doha, killing at least five Hamas staffers and a member of Qatari security. Israeli officials initially claimed the US green-lit the operation, despite Qatar hosting the largest U.S. military in the region.

The White House has since contradicted that version of events, saying the White House was given notice “just before” the bombing and claiming the strike was an “unfortunate" attack that "could serve as an opportunity for peace.”

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.