Sunday Clash: A Defining Moment Signaling the End of U.S. Aircraft Carrier Dominance

For over a year, American media and think tanks have been raising questions about the future of U.S. aircraft carriers. These questions range from whether the era of aircraft carriers is over, to whether they can be effectively targeted or even sunk. Underlying all these inquiries is one central issue: the failure of the United States to counter the Yemeni Armed Forces in naval engagements.

This failure persists, as Washington has rotated four aircraft carriers over the past year—beginning with the “USS Dwight D. Eisenhower” and followed by the “USS Theodore Roosevelt”, “USS Abraham Lincoln”, and most recently, the “USS Harry S. Truman”. None of these carriers have managed to achieve the U.S. objective of securing Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, halting Yemeni support for Gaza, or shielding Israel from Yemeni missile and drone strikes.

Yemen’s naval development began with repeated attacks on the Eisenhower, after which its replacement, the Roosevelt, opted to maintain a safe distance in the upper Red Sea, far from Yemeni firepower. The Lincoln mirrored this strategy. When it ventured closer to Yemeni waters in the Gulf of Aden, it was met with preemptive strikes by Yemeni missiles and drones, prompting a swift retreat to its home port in the U.S. coastline, leaving the U.S. Central Command without a single carrier in the region for the second time in a year.

American Inability to Maneuver
Military experts assert that the absence of aircraft carriers from the U.S. Fifth Fleet marks a significant shift in the history of warfare. This absence diminishes the fleet’s ability to maneuver and operate effectively, amplifying the impact of Yemeni forces on U.S. naval strategy.

When the USS Harry S. Truman arrived in the Red Sea from the eastern Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, it immediately became a target for Yemeni surveillance. On the very night it considered participating in an offensive against Yemen, Yemeni missile forces and drones were fully prepared to deliver a robust “welcome.” A barrage of missiles and drones was launched, causing panic aboard the Truman. Orders were quickly issued to recall fighter jets and cancel the planned assault.

In the ensuing clash, one U.S. fighter jet was downed over the Red Sea. While American military statements attributed the loss to “friendly fire,” the incident underscored vulnerabilities in their operational capabilities.

Sunday Clash: A Turning Point for Aircraft Carriers
The events of Sunday night signify a decisive moment in the decline of U.S. aircraft carriers. A critical vulnerability of these massive ships lies in the moments of aircraft takeoff and landing. During these operations, the carrier’s air defenses are compromised, creating a “deadly window” particularly in the context of fire saturation, either to engage interceptors, and risk endangering their aircraft or to refrain from firing and jeopardize the carrier itself. This underscores the strategic vulnerability of US aircraft carriers in modern conflict scenarios.

The psychological toll on US pilots is equally significant. Faced with rising risks to their aircraft and the possibility of not returning safely, pilots are likely to question their commanders about the guarantees of their survival. U.S. soldiers are trained with” the assurance of operational safety”, but that assurance is increasingly in doubt for pilots aboard aircraft carriers.

The Sunday clash is more than an isolated event—it marks the unraveling of U.S. naval dominance and highlights the end of the era of  US aircraft carriers supremacy. This is a turning point in naval warfare, as American forces grapple with emerging threats that challenge their once-unassailable supremacy.