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I was on an aircraft carrier in the mid 90’s and we lost three aircraft on a Westpac. We lost an F14 and an E-2 Hawkeye when the F14 bounced off it’s wire on recovery and hit the Hawk eye that was parked. The other was kind of scary because it was an F18 that was launched and the pilot ejected because the plane didn’t have power. Once he ejected, the plane flew off like a multi-million dollar bottle rocket.
The funniest part about this incident is how it happened. The Navy in the article claimed that the carrier made a sudden and hard turn to avoid incoming Houthi drone/missile strikes, causing the aircraft that was being towed on the flight deck to slide off the side of the ship. So they have now lost multiple multimillion dollar aircraft to a military force that has no airforce.
Pirate code says finders keepers if anyone wants a free jet
So efficient, why doesn’t DOGE go after the military?
That is what everyone is waiting for.
Aside from the politicians who have gotten fat on DoD spending to combat a boogie man, the levels of washing of funds would mean years of work to understand one year of spending.
Then there is funds procured outside of congressional budgets…
Everybody wants cuts to defense spending on both sides, except on both sides of the aisle.
They throw stuff away that is usable because if they don’t they lose the funding.
Also congress is also partially to blame. I remember several years back generals arguing they didn’t need more Abrams but congress budgeted their purchase. Partially because the provide jobs in their districts, partially because of you don’t give them orders they’ll layoff the workforce and if you do need more in a hurry you can’t get it because they have to hire and train new people.
They have range days to use thousands of rounds of ammo to maintain budget, and that isn’t for an entire branch, we are talking about a Platoon or Company. That isn’t even touching on munitions usage unrelated to operations or training.
Then there was the pull out of Afghanistan that left behind billions in equipment.
Pfft! Like they would go after ACTUAL waste!
If anyone sees a squid flying around we’re at full def con alert
Wait… flyingsquid is that you?
hahahaha!
For real, I know they were under a lot of stress, but they were actively hostile those last few weeks they were here. Not just to me, but a lot of people apparently. I truly hope they are better now.
The USS Harry S. Truman has been operating in the Red Sea since last September when it was deployed to help protect commercial ships against near-constant attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In other words, this incident would never have happened in the first place if the US weren’t supporting Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians (because that’s why the Houthis are attacking commercial shipping).
It keeps happening
$70m down uh, down the drain?
Just wait until Secretary Trump informs President Musk about this.
Thanks Obama
This fighter jet didn’t cause any problems under Obama!