Shot Down By A Friend: All About Kuwait's F/A-18 Hornet That Mistakenly Took Out 3 US Strike Eagles

Last Updated:March 04, 2026, 17:43 IST

The F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic multirole combat aircraft developed in the 1970s by McDonnell Douglas- now part of Boeing.

It was not a surface-to-air missile that brought down three American F-15E Strike Eagles over Kuwait on Tuesday night but a fighter jet belonging to a US ally. A Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet mistakenly shot down the three US aircraft in a friendly fire incident during the chaotic, multi-threat environment created by Iranian retaliatory strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The revelation marks a significant revision of the initial account of the incident, in which US Central Command had attributed the downing of the jets to Kuwaiti air defences without specifying whether those defences were airborne or ground-based.

What CENTCOM Said

US Central Command confirmed the incident, saying three F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait.

“During active combat- that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones- the US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," the statement said. All six crew members ejected safely, were recovered, and were reported to be in stable condition. Kuwait acknowledged the incident and an investigation was announced.

The Wall Street Journal’s reporting now identifies the weapon responsible as an air-to-air missile fired by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet- the same multirole combat aircraft that Kuwait has operated as a key element of its air force for decades.

What Is F/A-18 Hornet?

The F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic multirole combat aircraft developed in the 1970s by McDonnell Douglas- now part of Boeing- with Northrop as the principal partner. It was originally designed to replace the US Navy’s ageing F-4 Phantom II and A-7 Corsair II, consolidating fighter and attack roles into a single airframe.

The “F/A" in its name reflects exactly that dual mission: fighter for air-to-air combat, attack for air-to-ground strikes. The aircraft is built around two General Electric F404 afterburning turbofan engines, giving it a top speed of approximately Mach 1.8 and a service ceiling of around 50,000 feet. Its combat radius is roughly 400 to 500 nautical miles depending on weapons load. It features digital fly-by-wire flight controls, a head-up display, multifunction cockpit displays and a mission computer that allows rapid switching between combat roles mid-sortie.

For air-to-air engagements- the role relevant to Tuesday’s incident- the Hornet typically carries AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided missiles and AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missiles, alongside an internal 20mm M61A1 Vulcan rotary cannon. Its pulse-Doppler radar, the AN/APG-73 on later C/D models, supports look-down/shoot-down capability, enabling it to identify and engage targets below the aircraft even against ground clutter.

News world Shot Down By A Friend: All About Kuwait's F/A-18 Hornet That Mistakenly Took Out 3 US Strike Eagles

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