F/A-18F Shot Down By USS Gettysburg - Fighter Pilots React

[@superkjell]

The important question is: will the Gettysburg get a painting of a F/A-18 on the hull?

[@stevetheborg]

i think the pilots should get to paint it.

[@TRUCKASARUSREX]

@@stevetheborgnah that evil

[@searchtron7601]

No , thats "disrespectful"😂

[@ssgtmole8610]

Or an E rating for the mount. 🤣Maybe a battle star. 😁

[@matthewgibbs6886]

@@searchtron7601 not really in ww2 a us pilot had 1 us flag painted on his p51 had to shoot them down to save them

[@terryhair6434]

AEGIS missile system software will not allow you to fire on an aircraft that is transmitting a friendly IFF signal. It's possible that the fighter had its IFF transponder off if it went feet dry over a hostile area and failed to turn it back on going back over water. That would result in an automatic engagment if the system was configured for battle operations. I served on a AEGIS cruiser and was the guy who "pulled the trigger" when MANUALLY engaging aircraft. The system is autonomous if things are dicey.

[@Bakes-z4c]

I’ve forgotten to turn the Tx on, but it wasn’t as consequential

[@CMDRSweeper]

Not going to say for certain, but IFF is not 100% reliable in a war time environment. Especially the chaos that happens and that it isn't reliable, did cause a few blue on blue shots during the first Desert Storm.

[@naradaian]

The Houthis shot it down….get real

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

Not the first time the US has shot down one of its own planes same thing happened in Iraq, US Fighter jet came in at a aggressive angle and ended up getting flagged and taken out.

[@Thatswildpimp]

@@naradaian lie

[@lawrenceeverett9661]

My daughter is the ship surgeon on the Truman. She was working triage at the time of the incident. The pilots got excellent care!

[@smithandshortdogs]

This kind of thing is less uncommon than you would think. As a USAF E5 on a USA ILO deployment the CLP I was the RTO for was involved in a blue on blue incident. We were on a resupply mission in a USMC AO. A sentry post was unable to identify us and investigated by fire. We responded with flares and non directed fire. They stopped. Background: this was the first time a USAF convoy had entered this AO. USAF/USA comms were not fully integrated with USMC ones. USAF/USA CREW was incompatible with USMC CREW, and would engage each other causing denied electronics environment. Our vehicles were not marked IAO USMC NVG protocols. Due to opertaional delays, our mission was about 6 hours out of the designated window. Due to this delay, we were running previous cycle's frequencies and encryption. From the Marine standing post's perspective, unknown unmarked vehicles approached your sector of fire. They do not respond to hails. Your radio then quits working and you cannot contact higher... they are not slowing down. What do you do?

[@JinKee]

@smithandshortdogs Terminal Lance had a comic about that in Terminal Lance #140 “Escalation of Force” (subtitled “Shout, Show, Shove, Shoot.”)

[@prinzalbatross9526]

"Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P., shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T.? 'Cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could end up M.I.A., and then we'd all be put on K.P." That's what your comment reminds me of. Most people will have no idea what you're talking about when you talk in acronyms like that.

[@idkjames]

​@@prinzalbatross9526😂😂😂 The dreaded KP. Thank God for crew rest requirements for ATC.

[@jotrutch]

Maybe they were being paid by the rooskies but chickened out at the last second, South Korea style

[@RamblingRodeo]

@@prinzalbatross9526 Right, LOLOL thank you for that!

[@davidg3944]

The "Not service connected" was a deep burn. One that the VA won't pay for.

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

Well, the 'service' shot them down 🤣

[@glee21012]

It would be service connected.

[@pkmkb007]

Service connected with them alright, it was just high supersonic wireless connection.

[@Skank_and_Gutterboy]

I've seen it with Navy guys (I was in that group) who worked a murderous shipyard schedule that should be illegal. After being up all night on the stretch of graveyard shifts in our rotating-shiftwork schedule, guys were so damn tired that they'd fall asleep at the wheel and crash on the way home at 8 AM. Whenever it would kill somebody the Navy was always, "Off-base, off-duty accident, not our problem!" I separated at first opportunity, I'm not putting 20 years into a regime that does this.

[@aidenchen1275]

@@paulmurgatroyd6372 well, that's the "service connection" you looking for🤣, with a missile

[@sec808]

As an old cruiser ship driver who did a tour on a bird farm I have a difficult time thinking they actually engaged the F-18. There should have been an E-2 up, the F-18 wouldn't have been allowed to launch without valid IFF, and it was an upgraded AEGIS Cruiser that was acting Air Warfare Commander (AW). Everybody should have known exactly where friendly assets were. Plus (unless they have changed things) if an SM-2 is launched in error the ship can hold fire and destroy the bird in flight. My thought is the ship had CIWS in auto and the F-18 was directed to fly ( or just flew) within the CIWS envelope with a threatening profile and everybody forgot it was set to that. I can't believe the fighter had the wrong ident or the ident was changed and was intentionally engaged. Also I would think an SM-2 would have probably caused more injury and possibly prevented ejection. Just one old SWOs opinion.

[@RedTail1-1]

IFF is just numbers put in by the pilot or wso... It can be wrong..

[@benvandermerwe4934]

Agree with assessment. Probably RAM short range.

[@pogo1140]

A Tico shot down a passenger airliner that was climbing up to cruise altitude thinking it was an F-14 diving to attack. The only F-14 was sitting on the ground

[@misarthim6538]

Seems like it has been disclosed in the meantime that it was indeed SM2.

[@sec808]

@@misarthim6538 If it was actually an SM-2 then Navy has been damaged by politics way worth than I thought possible. Stand by for the largest Courts Martial in history after Jan 20th

[@astrophysicistguy]

So here are some facts ... hornet that was shot down was 15 miles from the carrier on a straight in approach (std night ops), the ship that shot him was in between him and the carrier, 5 miles aft of carrier. They fired a second missile at the next hornet on final who did a pitch down and hard turn to get the missile abeam. That missile exploded 100 ft below the 2nd hornet. Pretty impressive considering they were at std approach conditions, 1200' and 250 kts. The only reason the crew survived is because they ejected when they saw the middle had targeted them pre emptively ... impressive SA for sure ...

[@Milo_1368]

Thank God the aviators were able to eject safely. Shows just how important comms and deconfliction are.

[@jotrutch]

They're not aviators once they've ejected in a real mission... They're ejectors

[@jefferydraper4019]

and how unimportant political correctness and sensitivity training that they waste time on are.

[@umi3017]

Kinda wonder if they just ejected once the alarm sound, so they made it with only minor injury.

[@Milo_1368]

@umi3017 That's a good question. The investigation will take time and public release will likely be redacted

[@Milo_1368]

@umi3017 wondering if it's a similar situation to the Su34 situation where patriot fired on them and their radar guys and wingmen were giving evasive action directions

[@sharizabel2582]

I was over Iraq back in the mid 90s when we lost all Comms including our HF. We headed south and as soon as we approached the Saudi border every Patriot in range locked us up. Lucky for us none shot at us. We eventually made it back to Dhahran and landed using NORDO procedures. It was unnerving being locked up for an hour or so of flight. I was in the EF-111 and we flew single ship most of the time.

[@Odysseuss.]

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a78e39b40f0b62b22cbd9a5/maas03_02_tornado_zg710_22mar03.pdf

[@larsharris]

Loved reading a few features of F-111. Never saw one in real life.

[@mattg5978]

Woah 😳

[@MM22966]

The Patriots knew you were the natural enemy of SAMs. If you were a Weasel, they probably would have been doing the "Completely & Mentally Calm" routine.

[@rodf.7849]

I was with a Patriot unit back then.

[@peterlhoang]

Goose: Mav, are you sure this fly-by is a good idea?" Mav: "Trust me, Goose." CIWS: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[@Warhorse500]

I like Mover's point about the codes rolling. As prior service Coast Guard, we had to pay VERY real attention to our radio codes and make sure to roll the codes on time and on correct data. For us in the USCG, fratricide is always a possibility and we've actually had it happen to us once during the Vietnam era. One of our 82-ft patrol boats, POINT WELCOME, got strafed almost to the point of sinking by USAF aircraft, when the USAF failed to transmit the correct ID codes of the day to the cutter. The F-4s on patrol misidentified the cutter as a Vietnamese junk and rolled in hot. The pilothouse was shot to pieces and the fantail was set on fire. The CO was killed, the XO severely wounded, and the chief boatswain's mate took charge and dodged about 3-4 firing passes before running the cutter aground to keep it from sinking. Fratricide is a big deal for us.

[@larrywood1006]

I had a friend on that boat, he lost a finger thanks to the zoomies getting their rocks off shooting down PAVN "helicopters", or so the pilots claimed.

[@keimahane]

Yea, 3am should be new day in the the Red Sea, that is what I was thinking too, did they not load both days for a mission at that time. They should have, maybe they did and the pilot forgot to switch for new day on RTB

[@RedTail1-1]

First navy on navy? No. USS Porter fired torpedoes for the hell of it while they were all transporting frickin President Roosevelt on a "secret" mission way back when.. They had to break radio silence to warn the USS Iowa which was carrying the President. Luckily the torpedo headed right for that ship exploded just before reaching anywhere it could cause damage... Roosevelt declined to charge the crew... "Boys will be boys"

[@jedhaney3547]

You forgot to mention that the Iowa oriented some guns at the Porter and she was ordered to move away and if she approached she would be fired upon.

[@Raptor747]

It wasn't "for the hell of it", it was a planned exercise that went wrong because they accidentally launched a torpedo for real.

[@johnlucas6683]

Simple History yt channel has a recent video on that. It was an exercise, and the accidental firing of an actual torpedo was because of one foolish sailor.

[@kjhnsn7296]

Imagine such incompetence in the days before DEI...😂

[@nagasako7]

In WW2, in night battles, first reaction to being fired on by IJN was to check if it was friendly and light signal back 😅

[@stargazer2504]

Plot twist: They've really started using AI Skynet and it viewed the humans as a threat. "In a panic they tried to pull the plug..."

[@lukasz713]

Plot twist - they been doing that for a long time

[@jotrutch]

No the AI was just mad it couldn't get on to tik Tok that morning

[@BrianM78]

To be fair they thought that the F18 was an Iranian passenger plane. Edit: great minds think alike.

[@naga2015kk]

LGBTQ captained a cruiser INTO A SAND BANK!! so this is VERY possible these days.

[@Bellthorian]

I was in the Gulf when the Vincennes shot down that airliner, I was in a Stinger detachment and a guy from my unit was on the Vincennes when that happened. He said the Airliner was diving on the Vincennes and there was an Iranian LST in the area dumping bodies into the gulf. That was a Psyop by the Iranians trying to turn public opinion against our presence there and forcing us to withdraw and keeping us from assisting the Iraqi's in their war against Iran.

[@gsmdo8836]

@@Bellthorian What tinfoil-hat garbage. The cause of the shoot down was gross incompetence in the operations room. I've read the enquiry report.

[@delayed_control]

@@Bellthorian Also aliens exist and the Earth is flat.

[@dirtdevil70]

Do we know what system took the hornet down? I read one comment where the hornet had just taken off from Truman, so it was outbound? Any chance it was a CIWS or the 5” deck gun? I’d honestly be surprised if the pilots survived a hit from an sm2

[@mikeck4609]

Glad Mover brought it up: there are a lot of assumptions that the ship was at fault but it’s possible the aircraft wasn’t “saying” what it was supposed to or flying a route it wasn’t supposed to. On another note, I know the AEGIS is a pretty automated system so I wonder if anyone actually “pressed a button”

[@Skyhawks1979]

Would you be surprised to find out that the pilot was female and on her first combat sortie?

[@domcamp3313]

@@Skyhawks1979I’m not surprised, could you tell me where to find this info? not doubting you at all just would like to tell my old man about it but he’ll want me to have a source😂

[@dmac7128]

There is a bit of automation, but not as much as you would think. There are over a half a dozen humans that operate the AEGIS combat system with several more that form the command and control chain. The TAO and CO give the orders and physically enables the ship to fire by turning a key, but is a enlisted Sailor a few years out of high school that performs the procedure to fire the weapons.

[@genericadjectivenounname9001]

@@domcamp3313 You can't, because the Navy has not released the identities of the aircrew. They didn't even name the squadron they belong to, we only know it because that squadron, VFA-11, is the only one in theater flying two seat F/A-18s. This person is just pot-stirring because they enjoy arguments on the internet, most likely.

[@mikeck4609]

Seems like either a Swiss cheese model….or more likely, the f/a-18 was somewhere is wasn’t supposed to be and not doing something is was supposed to do

[@greghalliday4226]

Sorry to burst your god bubble Mover, but in my service it was mostly the incompetence lack of understanding of officers that created accidents or near accidents and the actions of non-commissioned sailors who knew how systems worked and the risk environment that stopped or minimised the issue.

[@fubar5884]

The Peter Principle was meant to be satire when that book was written, but it is truer than anyone will ever admit. Never seems to fail that people are promoted until they reach a level where they're incompetent.

[@Old.Vet.]

NCOs usually save the day, and take the heat for logistical fuckups caused by bad decision making by “superiors”.

[@ssgtmole8610]

@@fubar5884 I have a copy of the Peter Principle board game, but I've never played it. I have read the book.

[@CWLemoine]

What bubble is being burst by this statement though? 🤔

[@MinilordFTW]

@@CWLemoinelol went to defend you, already engaged.

[@adrianflower3230]

A Royal Navy Harrier on fleet CAP was directed to intercept / shoot down a pair of contacts during the Falklands War. They were a flight of 2 Harriers leaving the battlegroup. Nigel "Sharkey" Ward recounts the story in his book of the conflict. He was the pilot on CAP and his situational awareness was such he disobeyed the order.

[@MultiVeeta]

To be fair they had to get within visual range to shoot in them days.

[@captaintoyota3171]

​@MultiVeeta not always, but in that situation yeah

[@C420sailor]

The Ripper tanker (TTLR overhead at 8k, apparently) soaked one up, a second missile was going after another blue jet in the vicinity. Paddles saw the engagement and fireball, called up to the bridge that they were engaging blue fighters, captain called AW to cease fire, second weapon was post-launch aborted and narrowly missed the second jet. Heard they were actively engaging drones earlier. Fog of war?

[@disillusionedanglophile7680]

Wow! You must be a Top Gun pilot. Impressive argot.

[@phill5917]

See this is what I like about Mover & Gunky, they’re NOT biased. A lot of people were definitely trash talking about how Russia had the red on red friendly fire incidents but when it happens on the US/Nato side they don’t carry the same energy. I’m glad Gunky pointed that out!

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Because they had several decade's worth of blue on blue in a matter of months. And lo and behold, they just shot down a civilian airliner. You picked the wrong day to say something, ya jinxed it.

[@tech-test-break-fix]

I have a lot of time close to the boat on p-3's and I am not shocked something like this could happen. With the drone wars, weapons free is a lot more common than any time since ww2.

[@soul0360]

I was in (very close to), a blue on blue incident, in Afghanisten. We were hit by Allied Javelins, from outside our operational area. Two guys killed, several injured. During a TB assault, on our small patrol base. Apparently when we returned fire on TB, our bullets continued in the general direction of an Allied unit, in their own AoR. So they thought they were under attack to. Deconfliction got messed up. And they pummelled us. Several times, we were assured, that the Allies, were not attacking our coordinates. As they were behind TB positions, from our vantage point, we couldn't say for sure, where the launcher was. Hence not disprove those assurances. So we were scared shitless, of the new weapon the enemy had, and just moved artillery barages around the general area, on our side of the baundary. To no avail. The battle lasted a couple of hours. Only when Air support arrived, did everything fall into place. From the investigation that followed. It was concluded. That TB, had left the area, ~30 minutes after the initial assault. The rest was, us fighting ourselves. Many people, at multible levels messed up that day. Procedures was in place. But shit happened anyway. I know this is in no way the same, as a jet getting shot down, from within it's own battlegroup. It's just an anecdote, of how messy combat can be.

[@infotechsailor]

nobody in the navy believes it was friendly fire. that jet was shot down by houthis im betting.

[@patrickshaw8595]

Thank you for taking the time to tell us that. It's good to know that about Fog Of War.

[@82saw3]

I don’t understand how this could’ve possibly happened, I was under the impression all friendly aircraft could easily be identified on radar.

[@rare_kumiko]

Really looking forward to the report on this one. While blue-on-blue incidents are far from unheard of, it's one of those things you would think should be very uncommon with modern technology. But hey maybe it actually was a string of unfortunate, unlikely coincidences.

[@colinterry7261]

I’m with Gonky, sooo many things had to have gotten messed up for this to happen. There’s a lot of layers of Swiss cheese and all the holes lined up.

[@Viper31300]

Dang I'm taking this line for my work.

[@outermarker5801]

​@@Viper31300Actually standard aviation accident parlance

[@Viper31300]

@@outermarker5801 very similar verbiage to our crew stuff out here in Global Strike world. Like "one person pooped their pants, now everyone has to wear a diaper."

[@harrymoto6951]

Riding a rocket seat out of the aircraft... "Not Service Related" says Mover. I'm still laughing! Good one, guys!! 🤣🤣

[@Viper31300]

Yeah that's what they told me when I discovered a neck and middle ear injury after having to leave UPT for it.

[@kevintaylor791]

So do the AA guys that messed up owe the F/A-18 crew a case of whisky or something? How do you apologize for something like that? "Sorry about your jet. I'm really glad you're ok. Here is a case of Talisker and a promise to not do it again"

[@jamesadams893]

" Sorry about your jet " you mean my jet our jet owned by the taxpayers. 87 million dollars down the toilet, you think the Navy gives a shit,us taxpayers have unlimited wallets

[@1wordtroll]

Lots of Americans scratching their heads ... does he mean Whiskey? and what's a Talisker?

[@samuraidriver4x4]

Do DEI hire's need to apologize? 😬

[@stephenfowler4115]

😂

[@MattH-wg7ou]

In training if you frat you have to buy a keg for the squadron.

[@golden8378]

We lost my brother in law 1/24/1991 in a mid air F-16 mishap. Trust me, informing the family is just the worst.

[@antilarge7860]

Officers protect each other. Some poor E4 will be blamed for this regardless of where he/she was at the time

[@Viper31300]

I wouldn't jump to that kind of thinking. You like to play the enlisted vs officer card like others in this thread. Several people are gonna get canned for this, officers included, possibly all the way up to whoever is in charge of this fleet.

[@Echowhiskeyone]

I saw somewhere that the CO of Gettysburg was the AWC(or whatever they are calling him), the guy who is supposed to know everything in the air. That makes this situation so much worse.

[@cragnamorra]

In a Carrier Strike Group, yeah, the CO of the Aegis cruiser is the Air Warfare Commander (and in a joint context when appropriate, the Area Air Defense Commander (AADC)) for the group. Standard procedure for many decades now (at least as far back as the 1980s from my own experience, probably as far back as the 1950s or '60s...there were guided-missile cruisers/destroyers with air defense as their primary mission long before the Aegis ships came around). But yeah, I agree that makes this event even that much more inexplicable...no, it's obviously not the first blue-on-blue ever (or "blue-on-white"), but it MIGHT be the first one in which the aircraft has been shot down by the primary air defense commander *of its own group*. At least during the post-WW2 guided-missile era.

[@SlowrideSteve]

My father was an F15C pilot in the early 90s and shortly after flight 800 he got locked up by a Burke multiple times just off of Norfolk. So, it happens

[@richlo8887]

Nobaiy cares about your gay pilot father. Navy aviators are real men!

[@domcamp3313]

Getting locked onto and getting shot down are 2 very different things though

[@appa609]

Blue on blue needs to not be normalized. "It happens" is not the attitude we need

[@ericjurgens372]

@@appa609that is not what he said. You don’t follow procedures and we will lock on.

[@buravan1512]

If the F18 was shot down by a Friendly fire, why did US AIR FORCE had to retaliate on HOUTHIS? 😂

[@themoverandgonkyshow]

What?

[@andrewkuoppala3925]

@@themoverandgonkyshow you are institutionalized as you think its normal that we are there to begin with.

[@Blackmoon9u9]

At less, it was not a freindly fire from a USAF aircraft 😅

[@i_cri_evertim]

100%

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

​@@andrewkuoppala3925 Perfectly normal to defend shipping lanes. I wish you people could be sent to an alternate universe where global shipping was blocked by closed straits and rampant piracy. You'd be begging to come back.

[@Jakesullivan2112]

well...and then the crazy thing happened days later, when Azerbaijan airlines Embraer E-190 got shot down by missile defense in Russia, and crash landed in Kazakhstan. RIP to all the people killed in that crash.

[@deadmeat8754]

"Where was the wizzo, because they should've been pumping out chaff and flares" - Wombat "They (wizzo) should've been the last chaff and flare at the end - (Mover for) Gonky 🤣🤣🤣 With the crew safe and recovered, I feel comfortable saying in defense of the Gettysburg... Better safe than sorry?

[@tomwilson1006]

Nice! This video is getting LOTS of traction! 👏🏼 🙌🏼

[@tsangarisjohn]

These things are bound to happen. Glad our folks are safe. Also hope all sides learn from the mishap. Love to all our peeps. 🇺🇸

[@JohnSims-xxx]

Your peeps are the greatest terrorists on the planet.

[@Bakes-z4c]

They do dangerous stuff and occasionally all the holes line up

[@robertream2723]

Thank you both for the service to our country. Ward Carrolls' channel, in a discussion with Hoser, explains how there were 2 Hornets both on final to the boat when missiles were fired at both jets. Mooch put up a visual of the position of the Hornets, the boat, and the position of the Gettysburg during the landing evolution. Mooch and Hoser go into great detail about the scenario. Just wondered if you gentlemen viewed it. Long time subscriber, Rob 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@xisotopex]

imagine how well they would do in a high threat environment with a peer.

[@billucf96]

Lack of sleep is always a factor when you are in a fight.

[@johnsondadj]

I'm curious about the iff setup during the incident.

[@andrewkuoppala3925]

I was a member of VF-11 USS Forrestal in 1988 when we (our group) shot down Iran Air 655 in 1988. At least we didn't murder innocent people with this one.

[@FrankRoosevelt32]

16:31 “pretty high vis, man… pretty high vis.” Lol that’s an understatement. This is as high vis as it gets. If someone screwed up, they are going to have a really bad Christmas.

[@derekprzybyla5822]

Thanks Mover for the laugh on the not service connected comment. I worked jet engines for 23 yrs on BUFFS, 135Rs, and Hogs. VA said my hearing loss is not service connected.

[@mururoa7024]

SM2s are usually shot in pairs, and the radar lock needs to be kept the whole time. Doesn't the carrier share flight data with the cruiser? Where did the second SM2 go (if there were 2)? If they aborted one, why didn't the other abort? Who validated and kept the lock on the whole time without noticing it was a friendly, and why? ...so many questions.

[@208flatheads3]

Don't sm2s almost always kill the pilots tho?

[@mururoa7024]

@@208flatheads3 Not if they're proximity fused instead of contact. And if they hit from behind your chances are even better.

[@CosmosNut]

Finally someone getting the aircraft type designation correct !!!

[@orhan6211]

Mistakes with much worse outcomes happen: In 1992, USS Saratoga (CV-60) fired two Sea Sparrows at the Turkish Frigate TCG-Muavenet during a NATO excersize killing five including the ship's captain and injuring 22. It's worth an episode.

[@commandbrawler9348]

Then there is also the Iran air flight 655 incident! Like they mention quickly in the beginning of this video.

[@jotrutch]

There was also the twin towers on 9/11, an inside job aka friendly fire

[@Lightning_aus]

@@commandbrawler9348 That has been covered many times already

[@Viper31300]

"Much worse outcomes." Stop. Any blue on blue situation is bad. This could have easily resulted in multiple deaths or even a chain reaction of missiles being thrown left and right at other blue forces.

[@ceeb2275]

Blue on Blue will happen, I remember in the 90s an A10 straifed a British Warrior group. the pilots comms of that flight are shocking and emotional

[@Bakes-z4c]

That sounds horrific

[@SuperAd1980]

A friend died in that attack. The comms included "there's a British friendly column in the area, you are ordered not to engage" (US Br.Gen direct to the pilots) And "I see bright orange friendly markings on most of these" (pilot 1) And "They look like British vehicles" (pilot 2) Followed by "I think the Iraqis must have made there vehicles look British, and put friendly markings on them" (pilot 1) "This is [callsign] we've got a large Iraqi tank column that's been made to look British, with British markings and big orange friendly markings on top" (pilot 1) Reply "Negative, they're is a British column down there, we have comms to them, no sign of enemy. You are ordered NOT to engage" (US Br.Gen in charge of whole area) "Eer, we think they're enemy Iraqi tanks, they aren't shooting at us, they aren't targeting us, but they might start doing that... rolling in hot" (pilot 1 and 2) After the enquiry, they were found guilty of negligent murder by a British court and an order for extradition was issued... The US took them off flight ops and promoted them both into training rolls... If they ever try to visit the UK they will be arrested as the US refused to extradite these murders.

[@ceeb2275]

@@SuperAd1980 I was underwater at the time, we found about about it after the patrol, I'm not bashing our American cousins here as blue on blue is more common that we actually know, While I was in Afghan we had a couple of Ghurka's hit by Americans forces come in to the ER at Bastion. lots of anger at the time, But its easy in hindsight to be an armchair general. Murderers ? no thats harsh as its war, and accidents happen, while further checks should have been made prior to engaging, we can learn from , Remember, Those pilots have to live with it and I'm sure there isnt a day they dont think about it.... US are better at protecting their forces from OPs than we are. Not the response you want, but i disagree with Murderers statement.

[@SuperAd1980]

@ceeb2275 they were found guilty of murder by the court of enquiry, the judges remarks say that they were correctly ordered not to engage and they themselves said several times before engaging they looked friendly with all the correct friendly IFF markings and that whole area had been designated as a "must" get authorisation before attack on the RoE. The pilots went directly against at least 5 direct orders. Where i don't agree with the term murder in this instance, as it was still an "accident" - the extreme negligence warranted the same as the "causing death by dangerous driving" standard in my opinion (and the opinion of the judge), and that sentence is the exact same as murder...

[@Viper31300]

Don't further taint the story. I've heard the radio traffic from this incident and that is not what took place over the comms. What one of the pilots did indeed say over a hot mic was "Those were friendlies, I'm going to jail" after they fired. It was completely unintentional and to make the story sound like they did it on purpose is BS.

[@MrLeadb1]

The Houthi's are claiming they shot it down. Which would cause more embarrassment....friendly fire or the Houthi's shooting it down?

[@barryon8706]

"Permission to buzz the ship." "Denied." BRRRRRRRRRR

[@graveperil2169]

Navy on Navy USS Jarrett fired on USS Missouri 25 February 1991 JS Yūgiri vs US A-6 Intruder 4 August 1995 CIWS shot first and let inquires deal with any questions

[@carolinafrog4365]

guys great info! seeing all sides is critical in understanding! THANK GOD our Aircrew is alive and "safe"!

[@Old.Vet.]

So, does the ship still paint the kill on the superstructure?

[@jotrutch]

I wonder if there's a camel somewhere with the twin towers tattooed on the side

[@robertgaudet7407]

I think if those two pilots want to do it themselves no-one should stop them.

[@Spicy6969]

Im sure someone has suggested, but if not getting in contact with HLC (Habitual Line Crosser). He's an active army patriot missile instructor, moreless, and does the fighter jets faces and voices. Great KZbin channel and a great guy. So are his other very interesting friends. 1 has a medal of honor with 2 purple hearts. 😁😉

[@nextentrepreneur9288]

I wouldn't be surprised it this was a coverup to avoid the embarrassment they would get if they said that the Houthis successfully shot down an F-18. A first.

[@robertgaudet7407]

They mostly can’t hit ships though. Jet aircraft seem like a big ask. Have they been downing a bunch of Saudis I’d not heard about?

[@Viper31300]

It's less embarrassing to admit to a serious friendly fire incident? Why are people jumping straight to this? The government wants every reason to pull the leash off to fight the Houthis. If that were the case, you'd hear about how were now fully involved in the war.

[@markyuresko1346]

There was at least one friendly fire off Vietnam . An Australian (brand new, just built at Defoe shipyard in Michigan) destroyer HMAS Hobart, was in “market time” off the coast near the DMZ was radar detected at night by USAF F-4 and presumed by the air crew to be low flying NVA helicopters. F-4’s engaged with Sparrows and struck ahead of the ships forecastle at main deck resulting in crew deaths and minor to moderate damage to the ship.

[@Leper_Messiah.]

pretty scary when you get shot down by your own team.

[@eckee]

have you ever got shot down by your team?

[@AnarchyEnsues]

look up the uss liberty.

[@miteshghadi3146]

Houthis shot down

[@markuscev4581]

100% coverup. Houthis have taken delivery of Russian weapons. Continue to Supply Ukraine they will supply the Houthi's it’s not rocket science

[@tedsmith4353]

@@eckee hack..........off

[@frederickking1660]

Sm2 missle launched out the ticondaroga cruiser when the f 18 getting ready to land. 250 knots at 1200 ft all the defensive radar turned off. They saw the launch and punched out 3 seconds before impact. The lso on the carrier sees this at 10 miles. Screams up to the captain. Captain yells cease fire. The Gettysburg fires a second sm2 that misses the second hornet by 100 feet and blows up in the water right under it. They may have broke contact with the missile.

[@grantrissolo8368]

Hi Mover & Gonky, just curious in regard to how ‘Wombat’ got his call sign, as this is an Australian native animal? Regards Grant, Sydney Australia. 🇦🇺

[@maddogmorgan1]

Eats, Roots and leaves...maybe?

[@johnnunn8688]

Probs Chunky and well hard?

[@Bakes-z4c]

@@maddogmorgan1 Australian joke, probs doesn’t translate well to USA

[@bjlewis5431]

Yeah, the old Wombat joke.. "A Wombat, eats roots & leaves" Translation into aussie slang, however.."It just walks in, eats its fill, has sex, and then just walks off & leaves. That's the kind of thing that would get a guy the nickname 'Wombat' here down under..But it could mean something different, or spring from a different idea in the US, i guess..

[@johnnunn8688]

@@bjlewis5431 you missed a comma.

[@markl4593]

“Where’your wizzo?” - “It’s him or the jet!” 😂😂😂

[@khakimmalekov888]

Just out of curiosity, from the command structure position , who give the order to shoot down an aircraft enemy or bogey and base on what data or intel?

[@taiwandxt6493]

In the conditions in the Red Sea, it would be the TAO in CIC that orders/authorizes shooting something.

[@jotrutch]

It was hackers that got in and messed with the targeting info

[@moseskelly2886]

I look forward to learning new stuff and history. It's very sad when all of these incidents happen. I know the aircraft can get replaced, the sad thought is no one wants to have any life's lost. It is always good news when no lifes are lost.

[@enochprophet2794]

It would be interesting to know what missile was used because a fighter jet crew is unlikely to survive an impact from a "telephone pole" (SM-2, SM-3, S-300, S-400 ETC) due to the massive warheads onboard. Its possible that the missile came close enough to trigger the proximity fuse without making contact but its just as possible that this was a Houthi missile that brought it down.

[@Viper31300]

No proof of that. Crews survive hits from SAMs plenty. Most SAMs target an area behind the aircraft's wings or elevators in order to guarantee a disruption in its ability to maintain controllable flight. It may turn out to be true, but nothing points to that at all right now.

[@keim3548]

It's reported they punched out 2 seconds before impact

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

​@@Viper31300 doesn't the Patriot go for the cockpit?

[@MaverickTG86]

the results of the investigations should be interesting. Will be tuning in to the Mover and Gonky show when it comes out.

[@davidrowan9163]

My guess would be an engagement by CIWS left in auto mode that doesn’t interrogate IFF and will automatically engage any target in its engagement zone. I believe the F18 had just taken off and was not approaching the carrier group from a threat direction and accidentally strayed into its field of fire.(Purely speculation on my part)

[@jerodharris]

But mode 5 IFF tho? ""Mode 5 also includes lethal interrogations designed to prevent fratricide by providing a final challenge to a targeted platform prior to weapons engagement. Lethal interrogation formats elicit a Mode 5 response even when the platform is flying radio silent or "EMCOM," short for emission control""

[@davidrowan9163]

@ Phalanx or CIWS has no IFF interrogation capability (certainly during my service) and if left in autonomous mode will engage any radar target within its threat zone.

[@jddockery2]

8 seconds into the flight, how long was the missile in flight? Ods it was just a mid-air collision?

[@icaleinns6233]

Thank you for spelling out how IFF could have failed. That was the big burning question in my mind. The Tin Foil Hat theory was quite interesting, though. I could see how that could possibly happen. Probability low, but not zero. OK, that one's not off the table.

[@bionicsjw]

During desert storm in the opening days, there were multiple near Mrs. of Patriots that got shot at strike groups returning one came close to a tanker and other missiles such as harms being mistaken for air to air missiles and almost hitting in strike group aircraft. Dan Hampton‘s bookViper pilot details just a couple of these.

[@maakboomah434]

I remember flying tanker support for the USS Independence during RIMPAC 96, when a JMSDF destroyer shot down an A-6E (towing a banner) with their CIWS. Crew made it out & was actually rescued by the destroyer...

[@SomewhatNice69]

Tanker flying tri carrier support refueling f-18s over the csg in the pacific theatre was locked on by fcs, tracked, and given alot of angry radio calls from the various entities to identify themselves immediately or be fired upon, etc etc. This happened after the tanker had already been up doing AR for 2 hours...

[@markr447]

This story just keeps worse as information leaks out. It was blue on blue and it was two Red Ripper F/A18F's. One was just finished tanking operations and was at Martial 15 miles out in landing pattern to the Carrier and the second in front of him. Gettysburg launches two SM2 missiles and before the Hornet crew that was hit first saw the missile tracking them and punched out seconds before missile impact. The LSO on the Truman sees what going on from the flight deck and screams up to the CAG and the Truman Captain tells the Gettysburg to cease fire about the same time the second missile tracking the other inbound landing configured Hornet. The SM2 either has its guidance aborted and or a combination of a defense dive maneuver by the Hornet in a dirty configuration avoids getting hit with the missile hitting the water below them. Somebody totally screwed up on the Missile Frigate and WSO or Captain or another idiots pushed the wrong button on this one. Total screw up.

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

From the internet: The crew of a Ticonderoga class cruiser is 33 officers, 27 chief petty officers, and 340 enlisted

[@AFRetired04]

When I was stationed at Edwards AFB as an Aircraft Inspector/Mishap Investigator, one of the key points of the NASA led classes in investigating mishaps was if it was not "an act of God", it ALWAYS comes back to human error at some point; IE bad software design, improper inspections, faulty parts, poor training, etc.

[@evanbenjamin4578]

I'd like to hear from former F 14 , A4 , F4 Naval aviators on their take about this.

[@Wannes_]

From the F-14 driver who shot down a USAF F-4 ?

[@Skyhawks1979]

Back in the day, the Mode 4 was checked with a ground test set between the pilot and maintainers before any aircraft launches. No green light on the tester, no launch. Also the on board transponder holds two codes so you can roll into the next day if you happen to be airborne when the code rolls to the next 24 hour period.

[@jeffshriber6120]

And in 1987 when an F-14 from the USS Saratoga shot down a US Air Force RF-4C over the med. LT Dorsey the pilot and shooter of the F-14 kept his wings lost his flight status and was later promoted to rear admiral lower half in the Navy Reserve. And in 1988 when the USS Vincennes shot down Iranian airliner flight655 killing all 290 people on board. In the Persian gulf. And And in 1992 when the Saratoga CV 60 fired 2 SM2's at a Turkish destroyer in a training exercise killing 5 people 1 of which was the CO. And In 1998 when 2 F-15's shot down 2 Blackhawk helicopters in Iraq and lt col may flew over the wreckage and said "stick a fork in them, they're done" and in 2003 when a patriot missile battery shot down an RAF Tornado in Iraq killing both crew. And in 2003 when an F/A-18C hornet VFA-195 was enroute to the USS Kittyhawk when it was engaged by a Army pac3 missile the pilot lt white was killed found in a lake near karbala. And in2007 when 2 Army Apache AH-64 attack helicopters strafed and killed 18 people in Iraq that were innocent reporters and children in bagdad with 2 gun runs of their 30 mm gun and 1 run with their hellfire missiles,and the one plane that tops the list of more friendly fire incidents then all other planes combined in Iraq with too many incidents to quote the A10. This just has to stop. What's the point.

[@Adwaenyth]

The point is in a combat environment it's sometimes hard to determine if something is a threat to you and something isn't. Also sometimes accidents do happen, be it due to misjudgment, equipment malfunction or simply outright stupidity. When you're acting with "toys" that can throw an explosive fragmentation charge over more than 50 miles then the things that can happen are quite serious. And while I do think it would be nice to no longer have to fight each other, I don't see that happening anytime soon. Too many conflicting interests and too many people thinking they can end things with violence that should better be settled discussing at a table. For as long as those prevail, the sad reality is that others have little choice in the matter and do likewise or be killed...

[@yellecc]

Apache don't have gatling gun. It has Chain gun

[@JROC734]

The F15's shooting down the 2 Black Hawks happened in 94 not 98. In the northern NFZ in Iraq. They were flying some diplomats or something, and were mistaken for being a couple Hinds which takes a fool, or a trigger happy mofo to confuse a Mil-24 with a H-60. I think there were 26 people, (not 100% sure) or something like that on the black hawks, and all were killed. My dad was a Pave Hawk pilot at the time, and was like, "WTF were these fools thinking?" Pretty sure they visually identified them before shooting them down, but AWACS had fault in it as well I think, but I'd have to read up on it again to remember all the public details to that incident.

[@jeffshriber6120]

@JROC734 meant to say April 14 1994, may have crossed that date with the other Incident, let's not forget the takeaway is, not only was LT Col May wrong but In His visible pass, he said " stick a fork in them ,their done" . I never spoke that way of the dead in combat even at the enemy. I never had a reason to laugh or high five, I always felt once you're dead you've paid the price and if your a sadist who loves killing for pleasure the enemy gets to do the same thing to you. As an American I always felt I had a higher standard to uphold, worried about karma, behaved like a quite professional and didn't want my eyes gouged out or head cut off by the enemy when I was killed so at least my parents could have an open casket funeral when I came home. But others set an example by their behavior.

[@jcheck6]

Jeff, I have a photo of me flying that same RF-4C #381 over Texas that was shot down albeit years before. Interesting that I also flew in the same exercise against the Saratoga in the Med back in the late '70's. Small world.

[@dannyd1213]

If you check the history of the F-18, it's first confirmed kill was the chase plane (A-4 Skyhawk) at the Naval Test Center 1981 or 82, The F-18 drop a bomb on the chase plane when it was flying to close, took off the wing, the pilot and camera man ejected safely, but the A-4 was lost. Blue Water Navy: We have killed more of our own than any enemy since 1946.

[@robertscott4813]

The shoot down happened just after 3am. That part of the Red Sea is Zulu +3, so right after “midnight” GMT.

[@johnnunn8688]

It was 0300 local, not Zulu.

[@jotrutch]

Nice try but the zulus were based in South Africa, a long ways away. This was in the land of the sand people's

[@Motorman2112]

@@johnnunn8688 That's what they're saying, 3AM Yemen local is the same time as midnight Zulu.

[@MattH-wg7ou]

Hmmm, so possible bad crypto rollover. Mode V should auto roll to the next day's crypto but MIDSJ/Link16 you get kicked off the link and have to read the next crypto and reenter the network, at least in some platforms. That it was just after midnight zulu could be a very pertinent ovbservation.

[@Skyhawks1979]

@@MattH-wg7ou you are on to something. In the old gear you had to manually switch from CodeA to Code B. No sure if it is the same in the new gear.

[@franksposato6072]

There is a largely forgotten bit of history of friendly fire within the US Navy especially in WW2 at Guadalcanal. A new article by Robert Lundgren recently discovered that in the battle for Henderson airfield there were at least 10 instances of Friendly Fire between the ships including several torpedo hits on the USS Portland and Laffey in 1942.

[@KSparks80]

The USS Wichita got hit by a 5" shell from friendly fire while off Okinawa near the end of the war. "On 12 May 1946, the ship was damaged by friendly fire. A 5-inch round struck the port aircraft catapult; shell fragments hit the shield of an antiaircraft director, killing one man and injuring eleven others". My Grandpa was serving on her (as an RDM3) at the time. It was only 3 months prior to the end of the war in August. She was one of the first warships to reach Japan when she sailed into Nagasaki harbor in Sept., about a month after the bombing.

[@BandofBrothersTours]

In 1992 as the Mighty Mo made its way to Pearl, apparently we lost contact with the crew and a F18 from Nimitz was sent to her location. As the Hornet spun around for a closer look at the Missouri it was locked up by CWIZ and shot down. The pilot never ejected and it was found later that the Mighty Mo had been taken over by by mercenaries. Luckily a lone Navy SEAL named Casey Ryback who was on the ship as a cook, was able to neutralize the bad guys with the help of Miss July. All jokes aside, just glad the pilots made it out and are safe.

[@charlesmaurer6214]

I gave a real life event like it that was ship on ship that could have been much worse. If you miss my other post look up Fat Electrician's vid on the William D. Porter that fired on the Iowa with FDR and his war staff onboard to meet with Stalin and Churchill.

[@sickemdroops]

Off topic I LOVE the sweater Mover!

[@marktisdale7935]

7:31 You guys should do a show with Habitual Linecrosser about that incident in 2003.

[@ibluap]

I makes me recall when an F-100 shot a B-52 down during a drill, at the beginning of the sixties. The Sidewinder was armed and ready to go when the pilot pushed the trigger. B-52 crew was killed.

[@Hellfr4g]

but it was not "coming back"... afaik they just took off its an aircraft moving away from the battle group and the houthies dont even have an airforce imagine being on the deck of the ship, watching the jets take off and suddenly anti air rockets get launched.... or as the pilot... right after start u probably assume a false alarm who could anticipate ur own cruiser engaging your jet right after departure.....

[@css0076]

2:05...""TWA 800"......I went thru a B747-400 Gen Fam in 2012. Our instructor was part of the investigation. He swears the fuselage took a SAM thru the center wing box/fwd cargo bay and exited the crown at the 1 o'clock position.....look at the pictures....

[@dougrobinson8602]

TWA 800 is not a tin hat theory. I know an engineer who was involved with the investigation. He said when the FBI showed up, things got real weird real fast. All the wreckage recovered after sitting in salt water was pressure washed with fresh water. No wonder they didn't find nitrates, assuming they actually didn't. Multiple eyewitnesses saw a plume of flame heading towards the 747, including a Vietnam helicopter pilot veteran, who knows exactly what a missile looks like. Most people think the hottest heat signature on a plane is from the engines, but on a passenger jet with high bypass engines, the hot spot is the air conditioning pack bay exhausts. That's exactly where the aircraft broke up initially. The NTSB's "Zoom Climb" explanation is laughable. 37 years as an airline technician under my belt. Many of us mechanics suspect that either terrorists or one of our missile cruisers shot it down. Government coverups are nothing new.

[@Grouse2275]

Nonsense….. missiles don’t leave a “plume” since they burnout rapidly. Sound travels slower than light….. sound keyed people to look and the saw trailing flame which they thought was a missile….

[@dandychiggins8329]

If you haven’t read it yet Jack Cashill wrote a great book about it. There is also an eye opening documentary that came out in 2013 that shows incredible evidence that we shot it down and covered it up. Including the testimony of several NTSB investigators who were part of the investigation.

[@Ryak84]

Quote "Multiple eyewitnesses saw a plume of flame heading towards the 747, including a Vietnam helicopter pilot veteran, who knows exactly what a missile looks like." So both you and the vietnam vet doesnt know how approaching missiles SAM/AA look like..... HINT: Its not as flashy as in stupid holywood movies..... (for good reason) Quote "Most people think the hottest heat signature on a plane is from the engines, but on a passenger jet with high bypass engines, the hot spot is the air conditioning pack bay exhausts." PLUS: If its a medium/long range missile IT isnt a HEAT seeker.........(except russian R-27T) .. Stop making conlusions/ fuel stupid conspiracys out of the blue with holywood movie weapon system knowledge

[@stephenfowler4115]

The appearance of the missile would depend on the range to the target. Missile engines typically burn out within a few seconds and the missile coasts to the target. There wouldn't necessarily be a bright flare. Secondly where the missile hit would depend on a variety of factors including wha the type of missile used.

[@AA-or4dt]

The Egypt Air 767 was another suspicious one. They tried to blame it on the FO doing it deliberately when he was even bringing home gifts for his family.

[@aboriani]

That CIWS impression was perfect!

[@jager6863]

FYI, the Captain of the Gettysburg according the the website is Captain Justin R. Hodges, is a reactor guy who appears to have been bounced around a lot, Executive officer and later CO of the USS GRAVELY (DDG 107). He appears to have spent most of his career as an Engineering Officer minding the "Kettle" and not as a Naval Warfare Surface Officer.

[@rainbowshulacorns3666]

That would be a Right* assumption as in make an ass out of you and me

[@peterharrell7305]

Tbf, the “kettle” is the most dangerous thing on the ship.

[@johnhoffman8203]

@@peterharrell7305 Apparently not.

[@AbbyYarra]

My understanding is that the aircraft was configured for aerial refueling at the time of the incident. I also understand that the force was actively defending against Houthi incursion at the time of the incident and furthermore that a strike package had already hit targets that evening. So it was a complex situation with a lot of moving parts

[@DavidR-f6z]

My family took a trip to San Diego in the mid 80s. I took a photo of the USS Vincennes about a month before she shot down the airliner. I had to discard the photo. It was too creepy.

[@Salty_Balls]

It definitely happened because you took that picture.

[@zorbakaput8537]

Watch for the stupid comments from 12 year old people who can't use Google search. I can only imagine the crew took some time to readjust when they found out what happened.

[@Bellthorian]

I was in the Gulf when the Vincennes shot down that airliner, I was in a Stinger detachment and a guy from my unit was on the Vincennes when that happened. He said the Airliner was diving on the Vincennes and there was an Iranian LST in the area dumping bodies into the gulf. That was a Psyop by the Iranians trying to turn public opinion against our presence there and forcing us to withdraw and keeping us from assisting the Iraqi's in their war against Iran.

[@vibrolax]

I toured _Gettysburg_ during Fleet Week around 1999. Didn't get any hostile vibes back then.

[@Odysseuss.]

@@Bellthorian you missed out the pink elephants

[@jrod9560]

Did this video come out before or after a certain Ward Carroll video?

[@themoverandgonkyshow]

Who cares?

[@DD-cg1oy]

That Red/Green/Ctrl+Alt+Delete button on the SM-2 station really ought to be "DELETE"!

[@marcomcdowell8861]

Choked on my Rip It when he said "Control Alt Delete" 😂

[@RedTail1-1]

Also have you seen the videos of CIWS spooling up and tracking friendly aircraft flying near boats?... Scary stuff and food for thought about possibilities here.

[@Salty_Balls]

CIWS are renowned for intrusive thoughts.

[@ssgtmole8610]

The super genius management types want to give them AI so they can turn themselves on, lock you up, and shoot you down without a human in the loop. How many pilots are going to pay the price beta testing that junk? How much is the government contractor going to earn convincing congresscritters to buy the over-priced cost plus stupidity.

[@dhardy6654]

Ive seen that happen and it freaked everyone out. It even was cycling ammunition without firing. I was on the bridge when it happened.

[@scuddrunner1]

How far from the fleet was the downed jet? Hats off to the rescue crew, great job!!

[@ronmoore5827]

Glad the crew got out ok. Let’s wait for the investigation before we start pointing fingers.

[@Tazandd]

Exactly. Pointing fingers get us nowhere... USS Gettysburg..

[@kskeel1124]

That'll take years to get released if ever...🙄

[@fulltang1]

Friendly fire.. right

[@keim3548]

Do you really think there's going to be an investigation that publicizes what happened? Why would they do that?

[@gordonm9541]

Had heard the aircraft had just launched and wonder if IFF was not switched on yet? Any Hornet guys out there, is the IFF switched on before launch or once airborne?

[@badgerattoadhall]

@mover and Gonky Show have you ever watched the bridge video when the US cruiser shot down the Iranian airliner?

[@johnnunn8688]

You have a link to that video, please?

[@psubond]

Been waiting for this vid

[@mandyfox9780]

Sounds like Under Siege 1 with the Sea Wiz 😆

[@sulufest]

I thought the same. “Are you tracking me??” 💥

[@82saw3]

I will say this, given the leadership. I’m sure nobody will be held accountable.

[@enochprophet2794]

An F-16 was also shot down in Kiev by a Patriot system (despite Pentagon denials) while attempting to down drones. If the threat environment is crazy enough, anything can happen.

[@ypw510]

When I was younger, I remember the US Navy had recruiting videos showing missiles being loaded in a Ticonderoga-Class guided missile cruiser. Seemed really cool with the missiles being mechanically loaded and locked onto dual launchers that could rotate and pivot. Looked it up, and this was the Mark 26 Guided Missile Launching System, which had a theoretical fire rate of 2 missiles every 9 seconds and there were two launch system per ship. Looked cool of course, but I'm sure there was the chance of a failure. I've toured several destroyers and cruiser that used the Vertical Launch System. Obviously not as cool looking and a the launch tubes can't be reloaded quickly. However it's supposedly a far better system in case of mechanical failure. And more versatile where the tubes can be loaded with Tomahawks. That along with being fire them one after another like the scene of Tomahawks coming out of the tubes in a burst of maybe two dozen.