US Navy mistakenly shoots down Super Hornet from its own aircraft carrier over Red Sea

The US military said it mistakenly shot down one of its own fighter jets over the Red Sea after an "apparent case of friendly fire".

Both of the Super Hornet's crew were rescued after being forced to eject, with one suffering minor injuries, according to a US Central Command statement.

Centcom said the US Navy F/A-18, which was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, had been flying over the Red Sea when it was "mistakenly fired on and hit" by the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg.

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The Red Sea has been a hotbed of military activity for more than a year as US forces battle Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia, who have been carrying out attacks against shipping in the region.

On Saturday, the US military said it fired on the Yemeni capital of Sanna, striking a missile storage facility and a command and control node.

A statement read: "Centcom forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden."