Houthi attacks continue in Red Sea as US Navy dispatches new destroyers

Jared Szuba

Dec 6, 2023

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) sails in formation with the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black. — The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) sails in formation with the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), Italian Navy Orizzonte-class destroyer ITS Caio Duilio (D 554), Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (C 550) and Spanish Navy amphibious assault ship SPS Juan Carlos (L-61), Feb. 24, 2023. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by the US Sixth Fleet to defend US, allied and partner interests. — U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Christine Montgomery

WASHINGTON — A US warship shot down another drone fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the Red Sea on Wednesday just hours after Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile aimed at the port city of Eilat.

The destroyer USS Mason shot down an unmanned drone launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen around 10:20 a.m. local time in the southern Red Sea on Wednesday, two US defense officials confirmed to Al-Monitor. It was not immediately clear whether the Mason was the target of the drone, one of the officials said.

Why it matters: The renewed volleys by the Houthis came just days after the Iran-backed rebels lobbed drones and at least four ballistic missiles at three commercial shipping vessels north of the Bab al-Mandeb strait in what a top Pentagon official described as an unprecedented attack on maritime trade in the strategic waterway.

On Tuesday, the White House revealed that the United States is seeking the support of allies to bolster maritime security in the key waterway with aims to replicate similar US-organized coalition naval patrols in the nearby Strait of Hormuz.