US Navy faces scrutiny after super hornet friendly fire incident

While fending off a missile-drone attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on 22 December, over the Red Sea, the American cruiser USS Gettysburg, escorting the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), mistakenly shot down an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft.

Fortunately, two pilots managed to eject and were swiftly rescued by a helicopter. According to current reports, only one of the two pilots was slightly injured. The information about two pilots indicates an F/A-18 Super Hornet, in the two-seater F version, which includes a weapons systems officer in addition to the pilot.

For months, the Americans, along with allies from, among others, Europe, have been safeguarding the maritime route through the Red Sea. Missions include escorting ships, destroying drones, and anti-ship or ballistic missiles, as well as conducting attacks on the Houthi insurgents' infrastructure.

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft entered service with the US Navy in 2001 as a deep modernisation of the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. The US Navy sought an aircraft with significantly greater capabilities, capable of performing missions previously designated for the F-14 Tomcat.

As a result, the Super Hornet had to be enlarged, which, combined with the requirements for a very durable landing gear and two engines, resulted in an aircraft with an empty weight of approximately 14,500 kilograms. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, aside from the 20 mm M61A2 Vulcan cannon, can carry weaponry on 11 pylons with a total payload of approximately 8,200 kilograms. The two extreme pylons at the wingtips are exclusively for missiles from the AIM-9 Sidewinder family, and only four pylons allow carrying, for instance, JDAM/-ER bombs weighing about 900 kilograms each.

Overall, the array is very rich because, in addition to air-to-air missiles like AIM-120 AMRAAM, the aircraft can also carry AGM-158 JASSM or AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER cruise missiles, AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, or AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles. This essentially allows combating any type of target. Additionally, in the coming years, US Navy pilots might receive a long-range air-to-air missile (even over 200 kilometres), currently known as XAIM-174B.

It is worth noting that the Super Hornet initially suffered from numerous issues, some of which were eventually eliminated. For instance, despite increasing the fuel tank capacity by 40 per cent, the range of the new aircraft increased by only 17 per cent. Criticism also targeted the wing vibrations, the AESA radar and IRST system gimbal performance, or the faster-than-expected wear of the aircraft's airframe.

For this reason, the Americans plan to end its production in 2025 and focus on developing a more promising new design. Currently, the US Navy has over 400 units in service, which coexist with several dozen F-35Cs.