The Houthi's do have a Surface-to-Air capability.
The Houthis shot at the F-18s and damaged one of the F-18 aircraft.
The F-18s returned to the carrier, and performed a "controlability check" to determine the slowest airspeed he could control the aircraft.
That airspeed was determined to be too fast to land safely on the carrier.
The pilots performed a controlled bail out and were picked up by SAR helicopter.
In a combat scenario, the returning aircraft would fly specific routes to and from the carrier.
There would be specific routes for no radios (NORDO) or no IFF.
Entering carrier controlled airspace, the F-18s would make radio contact and would be told to squawk certain codes for ID.
If IFF could not be confirmed (IFF out), the pilot would then fly the IFF out flight route. He would be vectored for a Carrier Controlled Approach (CCA).
Another option would be to fly close formation on the F-18 that had a good IFF.
All the above is speculation. However, IMHO "battle damage" is more likely than "friendly fire".
Thanks for the ping.
Kremlin snuff box, 12/26/24
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Kadyrov believes that the passenger plane in Chechnya was shot down on purpose. And I am sure that the attack was directed against him personally
We wrote [ https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/5085 ] about how the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane could hit Kadyrov personally. It seems that Ramzan Akhmatovich is aware of the threat.
“The plane in Grozny was shot down on purpose. They couldn’t protect us from drones [ https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/5037 ], but then a whole plane was shot down. This is no accident. The devils want to cause problems for me personally,” the Chechen leader said in communication with people from his circle.
According to a source close to Kadyrov, Ramzan Akhmatovich “will not leave it like this.” And he will take revenge - both on the direct “culprits” from the air defense, who, according to him, fired at the passenger plane, and on the “customers” of this crime.
At the same time, our interlocutors in the Kremlin and law enforcement agencies are still reluctant to comment on the emergency. But some admit that there are forces that want to take advantage of the situation with the plane crash and “punish Ramzan for all his sins.”
A decision on punishment has not yet been made. Therefore, at the official level, the emergency with the plane is now being commented on with restraint [ https://t.me/rian_ru/274776 ].
The Pioneer tanker was spotted on satellite imagery picking up its first shipment from Arctic LNG 2 in early August. The tanker then spent more than four months looking for a customer willing to circumvent US restrictions.
https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1872264382379618699
What makes "battle damage" less likely is that these F-18s were not part of the strike mission package, but were used to refuel other aircraft on that mission.
They were, in effect, tankers and so would be kept a safe distance from actual combat.
They landed last, after the others were already aboard.
At least, that's my understanding.
My best guess as to what happened is something like this:
It's 3:00 AM and, after serving all night, a missile operator on Gettysburg needs to take a quick run to the head, so puts his/her system on "automatic" while he/she takes a p*ss.
At that exact moment, the returning F-18s line up for landing and, not seeing the expected IFF signal, Gettysburg on "automatic" mode starts shooting at them.
The operator in the head hears the first missile launch, cuts short the p*ss and races back to his/her station just in the nick of time to hear the Truman CO's very loud W.T.F.!! over the radio and so hits the abort button on the second missile just in time to prevent loss of a second F-18.
IMHO, YRMV
