Yemen downs F-18, target USS Truman thwarting attack on Sanaa
english.almayadeen.net
The Yemeni Armed Forces successfully thwarted an American-British attack on the country, shooting down an F-18, forcing the USS Harry Truman to withdraw, and warning of further action to defend Yemen and support Palestine.

EDIT: Another interpretation of the statement suggests they take responsibility for the event by proxy of deterring said aircraft which was then targeted by friendly air defences.

EDIT II: Prev. statements by Houthis suggest they had formulated new tactics to tail fighter craft with drones/missiles a while back so probably more likely that had something to do with it.

Ansarollah have historically followed up with evidence of such claims against UAE/Saudi aircraft of the same generation. They definitely have the capability, but no hard evidence yet.

  • ZWQbpkzl [none/use name]
    ·
    12 hours ago

    I'm sorry, but no. The US has lost planes before and even more helicopters in the post-USSR era. The F-18 loss can and already has been written off. The only time the loss of an aircraft has deterred the US was Mogadishu and there's a lot more on the line now.

    If Ansarallah had gotten one of the (allegedly) stealth F-22 or F-35 that would be a massive embarrassment but even then I don't think the US would back down. Its likely that they are deliberately not flying any of those newer aircraft near Yemen for that reason.

    On the otherhand, no one has attacked a US aircraft carrier since WWII (afaik) and the only post-USSR attack on a ship is the Cole which was in harbor. The US is extremely proud of their surface fleet especially their carriers. Proving that "5 acres of sovereign US soil" can be forced to retreat is a huge win.