AAP FACTCHECK – Videos and images show a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, social media users claim.
This is false. The visual content comes from a popular video game called Arma 3.
The US military told AAP FactCheck that the carrier in question, the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, hasn’t been struck.
The Houthis, who have seized most of Yemen’s major population centres in a civil war, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for months in response to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
On May 31, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sare’e said his forces had targeted the Eisenhower.
In response to that claim, a US defence official told Reuters newswire that there was no report of an attack on the aircraft carrier.
Despite this, a Facebook post claims that a video shows missiles directly striking the Eisenhower.
“MSM SUPPRESSING THE FACT THAT THE USS EISENHOWER HAS BEEN HIT BY MISSILES IN THE RED SEA…” the caption says.
The video shows a computer screen displaying a VT Foreign Policy article with an image of a burning ship and the headline: “USS (CVN-69) Eisenhower burning and leaving the Red Sea?”
An unseen man scrolls through the article and reads it aloud.
“USS Eisenhower Aflame as Second Attack Destroys Flight Deck,” he says in the video (16 seconds).
“Many Dead and Wounded.”
The man then plays a video embedded in the article, which shows a missile striking an aircraft carrier.
Other Facebook, X and YouTube posts also claim the video shows a direct hit on the USS Eisenhower.
But the video isn’t real, it‘s from the popular military simulation video game Arma 3, developed by Bohemia Interactive.
The company’s global PR manager, Pavel Krizka, says the video shows a modified scene from the game.
“The footage was produced by using (modded) Arma 3 game,” he told AAP FactCheck.
The ship image used in the VT also appears to be from the video game.
There are discrepancies between it, the vessel in the video and the real USS Eisenhower.
For example, it has four bars on its antenna mast and the ship in the video has two, but the Eisenhower has three.
The US Navy says there’s “no truth” to claims the carrier was hit, and it remains on duty in the region.
“The ships and aircraft of the Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group are on station and continue their mission of preserving freedom of navigation and reassuring maritime shipping in the US 5th Fleet area of operations,” the spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
The US carrier appears undamaged in footage posted on X by its Captain Chowdah Hill and in images published by the US military of a joint exercise with Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour in the Red Sea on June 7, 2024.
AAP Factcheck has previously debunked claims about a failed Houthi missile attack on an American destroyer, and Arma 3 game footage and the conflict in Gaza.
The claim the USS Eisenhower had been struck has also been debunked by CBS News.
The Verdict
The claim that videos and images show Houthi-launched missiles hitting a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea is false.
The visual content was created in a video game.
The US military told AAP FactCheck that the ship had not been struck.
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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