“Seven MQ-9s have fallen since March 15,” the official said on anonymously, without specifying the cause of drone losses, which is a loss, costing about $30 million.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy announced the loss of another expensive military equipment: the F/A-18E fighter, which fell from the Harry S. Truman Airlines aircraft, causing an accident with a sailor.
A tractor towed the F/A-18E (a type of aircraft that costs more than $67 million in 2021) also slid into the sea from the ship.
“The F/A-18E actively towed in Hangar Bay when the movers lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and trailer tractors were lost on the ship,” the Navy said in a statement. No details of the recovery work were released.
Weeks of violent strikes
This is Truman’s second F/A-18 loss in less than six months, after another pilot was mistaken for the USS Gettysburg in the event that the two pilots survived.
Truman is one of two U.S. aircraft carriers operating in the Middle East, where U.S. forces attack Hess almost every day.
Military Central Command said Sunday that U.S. troops have attacked more than 800 targets and killed hundreds of Hess combatants, including the group’s leaders, as part of the operation.
Yemen said on Monday in Yemen that the media controlled by Hess in Yemen had a U.S. strike attack on the immigration detention center at the Sada movement’s stronghold, killing at least 68 people.
Then earlier Tuesday, the rebel channel Al-Masirah reported two strikes by Bani Hashish in the northeast of the capital, citing local provinces.
Iran-backed Huthis began targeting transports at the end of 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, who was destroyed by Israeli troops after a shocking Hamas attack in October of that year.
The Huthi attack prevented ships from crossing the Suez Canal – a crucial route that usually accounts for 12% of global transportation.
The United States first began a strike against Hertis under the Biden administration, and President Donald Trump vowed that military operations against the insurgents would continue until they no longer pose a threat to transportation.
