The U.S. Navy lost a $60 million Super Hornet fighter jet to the Red Sea Monday.
“The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft,” the Navy said in a press release. “The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard.”
Navy officials said the sailors towing the jet “took immediate action” to get away from the jet before it fell from the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman off the coast of Bahrain.
A U.S. official told military site Task & Purpose the mishap appeared to have occurred when the aircraft carrier made a sharp turn while under attack from Houthi militants.
CNN, which puts the value of the lost jet around $60 million, said the aircraft sunk.
Another F/A-18F Super Hornet was lost in December when the USS Gettysburg inadvertently shot it out of the sky. The two airman inside the jet were said to have escaped safely.
The U.S. has had numerous encounters with Houthi fighters targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea since 2023. U.S.-led bombing strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen began in January 2024. Those efforts have intensified under the Trump administration.
