The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was in critical condition while trying to evade a Houthi missile attack in the Gulf of Aden. During a hard turn, an F/A-18 Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-136, nicknamed “the Knighthawks,” lost its tether and ended up in the sea.
USS Harry S. Truman – effectiveness
Not many days ago, President Trump made very harsh statements against Yemen, warning that the American war machine would not stop bombing mercilessly until the Houthis stopped targeting ships in their area.
However, the war news, at least to this day, proves that the President’s words are misplaced, if not exaggerated. The Houthis did not stop, but they almost hit a nuclear aircraft carrier. At worst, they managed to sink a warplane worth about $60 million.
Of course, the loss of one aircraft is negligible compared to the tragic possibility of sinking a 104,000-ton nuclear aircraft carrier, costing $4.5 billion, with nearly 6,000 personnel [sailors: 3,532 airmen: 2,480] and over 90 very expensive helicopters and aircraft.
So, one could even positively judge the crew’s “successful reaction” which, although it led to the loss of a Hornet, limited the damage there.
To reach such a conclusion, however, we must ignore the sophisticated defensive countermeasures carried by the USS Harry S. Truman,
first in sensors and detection systems:
- AN/SPS-48E 3-D air search radar
- AN/SPS-49(V)5 2-D air search radar
- AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar
- AN/SPN-46 air traffic control radars
- AN/SPN-43C air traffic control radar
- AN/SPN-41 landing aid radars / 4 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems / 4 × Mk 95 radars,
then in electronic warfare and deception systems:
AN/SLQ-32A(V)4 countermeasures suite
SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures
and finally in armament:
- 2 × Mk 57 Mod3 Sea Sparrow
- 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
- 3 × Phalanx CIWS.
Did the Houthi missile-drone attack succeed in neutralizing all of the above and the vessel was now forced to resort to the fatal maneuver for the Hornet?
Is this what happened, or did the crew’s inadequacy erase the vessel’s weapon advantages and everything was decided by the helmsman’s maneuverability and reaction?
Before we jump to a conclusion, let us recall here that the very expensive and elite aircraft carrier has a controversial service record:
1. In 2007, the E-2C Hawkeye surveillance aircraft crashed during takeoff from the aircraft carrier, resulting in the deaths of all three crew members.
2. In 2016, an Iranian drone breached the ship’s defenses and took high-resolution photos of the aircraft carrier, which were broadcast on Iranian television.
3. In 2019, an “electrical problem” put the ship out of service for more than two months.
4. In 2022, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from Air Wing One crashed into the sea from the deck (again!!) due to strong winds, due to a sudden storm, in the Mediterranean!!!
5. In 2024, another F/A-18F Super Hornet from VFA-11 was shot down by friendly fire (!!!) from the cruiser USS Gettysburg.
6. In 2025, in February, the aircraft carrier collided with the merchant ship Besiktas-M in Port Said. And in April, he lost another plane at sea, as we initially reported.
The superiority that the “Western war machine” proposes is neither as effective nor as high-level. The American army probably has the most complete cinema on the planet (Hollywood), but in terms of its operational superiority on the battlefield, it faces serious challenges when it has to confront determined and desperate peoples who are fighting not for their careers but for the sacred and loyal things of their Homeland.
