US launched ‘largest-ever strike from aircraft carrier’ – commander

Some 125,000 pounds (62.5 tons) of munitions were dropped by naval warplanes in Somalia, Admiral James Kilby has said

The US Navy conducted the largest-ever airstrike from an aircraft carrier during an operation in Somalia earlier this year, Admiral James Kilby, acting chief of naval operations, has said.

The USS Harry S. Truman and its strike group “launched the largest airstrike in the history of the world – 125,000 pounds (62.5 tons) – from a single aircraft carrier,” the US Navy’s top admiral claimed at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington on Monday.

A defense official told Business Insider on Wednesday that the bombing run took place on February 1 and involved 16 F/A-18 Super Hornets.

According to US Africa Command, a total of 25 airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Qaeda affiliate group Al-Shabaab have been carried out by American forces in Somalia since January.

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The Truman carrier strike group, which had been deployed to the Middle East in the autumn, left the Red Sea earlier this month to participate in NATO drills in the Mediterranean before heading back to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia.

Over the last half a year, it has played a key role in US efforts to prevent Houthi fighters from targeting shipping off Yemen’s coast. The Truman conducted 670 strikes against the Houthis and intercepted around 160 enemy drones and missiles during the period, Kilby said.

The Houthis “are not China, but they are a threat, and they are hunting our ships. Understanding that and not being dismissive about that and being prepared is what we are focused on now,” the admiral stressed.

The Truman’s stay in the Red Sea was marred by several incidents. In December, one of the warships in its strike group shot down an American F/A-18 in what the US military later described as an “apparent case of friendly fire.”

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In late April, an F/A-18 and a tow tractor fell overboard from the carrier’s hangar bay as the ship was maneuvering to avoid an attack by the Houthis.

Earlier this month, the Truman’s arresting cables failed during the landing of another F/A-18, sending the jet, which costs an estimated $60 million, overboard.