USS Carney firing interceptors at missiles and drones launched from Yemen over the Red Sea on October 19. Source: U.S. Army.
The United States has helped Israel repel yet another drone attack by the Yemeni Houthis (Ansar Allah) on the port city of Eilat.
The Houthis, who control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, are a part of the so-called Axis of Resistance that is backed by Iran and opposes Israel. The group has fired several missiles and drones at Eilat since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip. It also assaulted a number of Israeli-owned ships and announced a blockade on all ships heading to the country.
Brigade General Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Houthi, announced on December 26 that the group conducted drone attacks on the southernmost Israeli city and “other areas in occupied Palestine”. He added that the group also launched missiles at an MSC United vessel in the Red Sea after it rejected three warning calls.
The two attacks were carried out in support of “the oppressed Palestinian people,” the Houthi spokesman said in a statement.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a short statement on the downing of a “hostile aerial target,” which was heading toward Israel, adding that the Air Force air traffic control monitored the device throughout the incident. The IDF released footage showing the interception, which reportedly occurred off the coast of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Witnesses cited by Egyptian media said they saw something fall into the Gulf of Aqaba.
The U.S. military announced later that it had shot down 12 suicide drones and five missiles launched by the Houthis from Yemen.
In a statement, US Central Command said that the USS Laboon, a guided-missile destroyer, and F-18 fighter jets from the Eisenhower carrier strike group were involved in the effort to down 12 drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles in the southern Red Sea that were fired over a 10-hour period. There was no damage to ships in the area or injuries reported, according to the command.
Separately, MSC Mediterranean confirmed that MSC United VIII, which was en route from King Abdullah port in Saudi Arabia to Karachi port in Pakistan, came under attack but that the crew was safe. The shipping company said that it was conducting an assessment and reported the incident to the U.S.-led naval coalition in the Red Sea.
Recent attacks in the Red Sea forced some of the world’s largest shipping companies to suspend operations there, causing a shipping crisis.
In response, the U.S. launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to “ensure the safety of maritime traffic” in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden. However, the operation is already facing problems. Spain, Italy and France refused to take part in the operation. Several other allies of Washington declined to send warships.
destroying $2000 drones with $ 2,000,000+ missles. not a good long term strategy.
requires a change in strategy considering none of the drones/ cruise missiles are making it thru to their targets. i’m sure the irgc is watching and devising something new.
all that has to happen is for them to swamp the missile defense. houthi are toying with their dinner. you’ll know when they are serious.
i believe you. that’s how the multi pronged/ level abqaiq and khurais attacks were carried out.
us forces are having much more success against their traditional enemy, ie: goat herders wearing sandals. not much success elsewhere. their proxy in ukraine is dead in the water. in some cases quite literally. protecting war criminals in isreal isn’t going to work out well for the us, or its poodle in blighty.
the yemen axe of resistence should send decoys in advance and a target finding drone to detect the interceptor. as the interceptor attacs the decoys, the target finder located the interceptor and send real missils and drones to destroy it. yemen has the right to do it because the yankee is a part off the genocide in palestine.
the biggest jewish city in the world isn’t tel aviv, it’s new york.
should have let the drone hit. nobody in israel is worth the wasted missiles.
every us polititian who bends the knee infront of aipac to get the blessing for the next election will disagree with you.
the brave houthis should send dozen of ultra cheap drones to milk the us war cow.
i wonder how much u.s. taxpayer money was wasted to intercept a dozen cheap drones. just think of the costs involved, including having a massive carrier battle group there. but, that is what the u.s. military industrial congressional complex does; massive fraud and waste!
good business for producers. the us taxpayer pays…
for the us, war is big business.
uncle sam is being played for a sucker by expending all its expensive and hard to replace missiles to shoot down $5,000 drones.