The crews of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and its accompanying warships have spent four straight months at sea defending against ballistic missiles and flying attack drones launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis. It now regularly defends against a new threat: high-speed unmanned attacks. Ships being fired at them through the water.
The Houthis have previously launched unmanned surface vessels (USVs) against the Saudi coalition intervening in Yemen’s civil war, but on January 4 they used them for the first time against US warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. It was done. In the weeks since then, the Navy has had to intercept and destroy multiple her USVs.
Rear Adm. Mark Miguez, commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, to which Eisenhower belongs, said it was “an unknown threat that we don’t have a lot of information about, and it could be a very lethal unmanned surface vessel.” There is,” he said. flagship. The Houthis “obviously have a way of controlling it the way they control (unmanned aerial vehicles), and they have very little fidelity with all the stockpiles they have in terms of USVs,” Miguez said. Ta.
Yemen’s Houthis fire two missiles at cargo ship destined for Iranian port
On October 17, days after the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas war, the Houthis began firing on U.S. troops and commercial ships after a deadly explosion at al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip. The rebels said they would continue shelling commercial and military vessels passing through the area until Israel ceases military operations in the area.
The Eisenhower has been on patrol here since Nov. 4, and some of its accompanying ships have been in the area even longer since October.
Meanwhile, Eisenhower’s fighter and reconnaissance planes worked tirelessly to detect and intercept missiles and drones launched by the Houthis against ships in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. F/A-18 fighter jets from aircraft carriers are also frequently launched to destroy detected missile sites before munitions are fired.
Crew members stand on the deck of the USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as IKE, in the southern Red Sea on February 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armang)
As of Wednesday, the carrier strike group, which includes the cruiser Philippine Sea, the destroyers Mason and Gravely, and additional U.S. naval assets including the destroyers Laboon and Carney, had conducted more than 95 drone interceptions. It launched more than 240 self-defense strikes against more than 50 Houthi targets, launching naval ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles. On Wednesday, the strike group intercepted and destroyed seven more anti-ship cruise missiles and another high-explosive USV that was poised to launch against ships in the Red Sea.
“We are constantly monitoring what the Iranian-backed Houthis are up to, and if we discover military targets that threaten the capabilities of commercial shipping, we will defend those ships and attack them with precision and force. attack,” the captain said. Marvin Scott, commander of the carrier air wing’s eight fighter squadrons.
But the USV threat is still evolving and concerning, Miguez said.
“This is one of the most frightening scenarios, where an unmanned surface vessel loaded with bombs is traveling at a significant speed. And if we don’t get there quickly, things can quickly escalate.” ” Miguez said.
U.S. Central Command also said Thursday that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Clarence Sutphin Jr. boarded a ship bound for Yemen in the Arabian Sea on January 28, carrying ballistic missile parts, USV parts and military-grade communications equipment. It was reported that it had been confiscated.
This pace meant that each ship spent four months at a constant combat pace without stopping in port. That’s putting a huge strain on the sailors, Capt. Christopher “Chowder” Hill, the Eisenhower’s captain, said in an interview with The Associated Press aboard the Eisenhower.
The ship maintains morale by letting sailors know how important their work is and providing Wi-Fi access so they can stay connected to their families back home.
“The other day I was walking down the trash deck and I heard a baby crying because someone was on a video conference with a baby they had never met,” Hill said. “It’s just extraordinary, that kind of connection.”
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Destroyers do not have Wi-Fi due to bandwidth limitations, which can be difficult for the crew.
Jocelyn Martinez, a second class gunner and crew member on the destroyer USS Gravely, said it was difficult to maintain combat readiness at sea for long periods of time without contact with her homeland. “But here we support each other.”
“It’s like a rush of adrenaline,” Martinez said, when a threat is detected and an alarm goes off directing the crew to respond. “But at the end of the day, we’re just doing what we came here to do and protecting the crew and the ship.”
