US Navy planes recently launched the largest-ever airstrike from an aircraft carrier, dropping 125,000 pounds of ordnance, a top admiral said this week.
The USS Harry S. Truman and its strike group “launched the largest airstrike in the history of the world — 125,000 pounds — from a single aircraft carrier into Somalia,” Adm. James Kilby, acting chief of naval operations, said on Monday.
A defense official told Business Insider the operation — a single bombing run involving around 16 F/A-18 Super Hornets — occurred on February 1 while the Truman was operating in the Red Sea.
US Africa Command said in February that airstrikes at the start of the month targeted senior ISIS-Somalia leadership in a series of cave complexes. The military assessed that over a dozen terror operatives were killed. Kilby’s comments this week shed more light on the bombardment.
US forces have executed dozens of airstrikes this year against ISIS and Al Qaeda affiliate group al-Shabaab in Somalia. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence considers both groups to be a threat to American interests.
The Truman carrier strike group recently left the Red Sea and is participating in NATO maritime exercises in the Mediterranean Sea before heading back to its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia.
The strike group, consisting of the carrier and several other warships, deployed last fall and spent months operating in the Middle East, where it was a pillar of US combat operations against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen that were paused earlier this month.
Kilby, speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event, said the Truman strike group engaged 160 drones and missiles that the Houthis had fired at Israel, the Navy, or shipping lanes. He also said the ships carried out 670 strikes in Yemen, targeting rebel assets.
The munitions used in these engagements could include a mix of surface-to-air missiles, land-attack missiles, air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface bombs, and air-launched standoff weapons. Multiple carriers have been a part of operations against the Houthis, expending significant amounts of ordnance to curb the group’s attacks.
“We’ve seen an increase in how the Houthis are acting,” Kilby said. “Sometimes, I hear people speak dismissively of them. They’re not China, but they are a threat. And they are hunting our ships.”
The Truman has had an eventful deployment. In December, one of the warships in its strike group accidentally shot down an F/A-18, which is estimated to cost roughly $60 million apiece, over the Red Sea. The military described the engagement as an “apparent case of friendly fire.”
Several weeks later, in mid-February, the Truman collided with a commercial vessel in the Mediterranean. The aircraft carrier suffered some damage, and the incident led to the firing of its commanding officer.
In late April, with Truman back in the Red Sea, an F/A-18 and a tow tractor fell overboard from the carrier’s hangar bay. A sailor had to jump from the cockpit just before the fighter jet went into the water.
And just over a week later, in early May, an F/A-18 was landing on the flight deck when Truman’s arresting cables failed, sending the jet overboard. The two aviators safely ejected and were rescued from the water.
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