US Navy wins against familiar and unprecedented Red Sea threats are being driven by defense decisions it made decades ago

A missile launches from a US Navy warship in the Red Sea in February. US Central Command

• The US Navy has relied on a variety of tools and systems to engage Houthi missiles and drones.
• Many of the US combat platforms and weaponry have origin stories that go back decades.
• The Navy secretary acknowledged on Wednesday the effectiveness of these systems in the Red Sea.

Decisions made decades ago are now defining the Red Sea naval battle unfolding between American forces and the Houthis, the US Navy’s top civilian official said on Wednesday, highlighting the long reach of defense decision-making.

For months, Navy warships have engaged Houthi missiles and drones as part of their mission to protect key international shipping lanes from attacks carried out by the Iran-backed rebels. Over the course of these engagements, US forces have at times faced threats unprecedented in combat, like anti-ship ballistic missiles, off the coast of Yemen.

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro acknowledged the effectiveness of the platforms and weapon systems that American sailors have used to destroy Houthi threats and traced their origins back decades, in some cases as far back as 70 years ago.

“The operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the past three months illustrate perfectly how technological investments and force design decisions made by naval leaders in the past impact operations for decades,” Del Toro said in written testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations.

A view of the USS Gravely destroyer in the southern Red Sea on Feb. 13. AP Photo/Bernat Armangue

“The backbone of our air-defense fleet, the Aegis Combat System, first became a program of record as the Advanced Surface Missile System 60 years ago this year,” Del Toro said as part of a budget hearing for the upcoming fiscal year.

Development of the Advanced Surface Missile System began in the 1960s as a response to anti-ship missile threats and it eventually evolved into Aegis, which is an automated weapons control system that can battle threats in the air and on the water’s surface.

Dozens of Navy warships, including some of those that have deployed to the Red Sea, are outfitted with the Aegis Combat System.

Putting more emphasis on the importance of defense decisions, Del Toro in his statement cited the 47-year-old USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier that also maneuvers in the Red Sea as a leading Navy ship in the ongoing response to the Houthis.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower conducts flight operations in the Red Sea on Feb. 23. US Navy photo

From the busy flight deck of the nuclear-powered Ike, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets are taking off and landing around the clock, sometimes intercepting Houthi threats in the air or striking the rebels directly in Yemen.

Del Toro referred to this multi-role combat aircraft as the “workhorse of our air wings” and described it as a “derivative of a strike fighter platform that first flew 45 years ago this year,” referring to the F/A-18 Hornet.

In the Red Sea, the Ike’s Super Hornets are armed with AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles — the latest variant of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, which entered service 68 years ago, Del Toro added.

These “platforms and weapon systems our Sailors and Marines have used with great effect in shooting down Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones can be traced back to development efforts and disciplined investments from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s,” Del Toro said.

They are also, the Navy secretary said, the results of “timely modernizations and upgrades that have enabled these platforms and systems to be relevant in today’s threat environment.”

US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Carney defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and drones in the Red Sea on October 19, 2023. US Navy/MCS2 Aaron Lau

The Houthis have been unable to strike any of the US or allied warships operating in the region, although their missiles and drones have managed to strike a number of commercial ships. Earlier this year, for instance, two separate attacks caused one vessel to sink and led to multiple crew fatalities on another. Nonetheless, the US warships and allied vessels have seen notable success.

Most recently, on Tuesday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile that was likely targeting a US-owned vessel being escorted by two American destroyers, but the Pentagon said its forces engaged and destroyed the threat.

As Houthi attacks continue, US officials continue to assert that preemptive strikes in Yemen have degraded the rebels’ capabilities and that the Navy will continue its mission in the region for as long as it is needed.

“We certainly will continue to do everything we can to protect commercial shipping through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters last week. “And, of course, do everything that we need to protect our forces as well.”

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