US warship close call with Houthi missile in Red Sea

CNN
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A cruise missile fired by the Houthis into the Red Sea on Tuesday night came within a mile of a US destroyer before being shot down, four US officials told CNN. It is said to be the closest attack the Houthis have ever made on a U.S. warship.

In the past, these missiles have been intercepted by U.S. destroyers in the same area at ranges of more than eight miles, officials said. But the aircraft carrier Gravely had to use its close-in weapon system (CIWS) for the first time since the US began intercepting Houthi missiles late last year, and was ultimately successful in shooting down the missile, officials said. Stated.

CIWS is an automatic machine gun designed for close-range interception, and is one of a ship’s last lines of defense to shoot down incoming missiles if other layers of defense fail.

The episode highlights how the Houthis continue to pose a threat to US naval assets and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, despite multiple attacks by the US and UK on Houthi infrastructure inside Yemen. . The close call also comes days after three U.S. service members were killed in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on a U.S. outpost in Jordan.

U.S. officials said the fact that Gravely failed to intercept the missile sooner does not indicate that the Houthi attacks have become more sophisticated.

But the Houthis continue to fire missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea, and U.S. Central Command said they were preparing to launch surface-to-air missiles on Wednesday morning that would pose a danger to U.S. military aircraft operating in the region. It is said that he was doing so. .

Centcom said in a statement that the U.S. military successfully destroyed the missile before it was launched.

Since January 11, the United States has carried out multiple attacks on Houthi weapons depots, command and control nodes, and storage facilities in Yemen, military officials said. Officials did not provide details about what percentage of the Houthis’ weapons capabilities were reduced by the airstrikes.

Iran, which supports and provides equipment to the Houthis, continues to attempt to send arms and supplies to the group. Earlier this month, the U.S. Navy seized Iranian-made ballistic and cruise missile parts from a ship bound for Yemen’s Houthis off the coast of Somalia, Centcom said. Two U.S. Navy SEALs were killed in the operation, one falling overboard and another jumping off in an attempt to rescue them.

Iran has also provided the Houthis with tactical intelligence and surveillance systems, allowing them to better target ships in the Red Sea, CNN previously reported.

The United States is currently considering how to respond to the drone attack in Jordan and may target specific Iran or Iranian-backed assets in the region with either attacks or cyberattacks. CNN reported. But with tensions rising on multiple fronts in the region, U.S. officials have repeatedly said they do not want to get drawn into a war with Iran.

“We do not want war with Iran. We are not seeking a conflict with the regime in a military way,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this week. “We have no intention of escalating here.”

This story has been updated with additional details.