In a commentary on the date of June 4th, the Wall Street Journal said that Yemen’s Hootis (officially called Ansalara), proved to be an incredibly difficult enemy for the US Navy. The WSJ said Ansalara was engaged in the US Navy in “the most intense battle since World War II.”
Below is the full article.
On the evening of May 6th, the F/A-18 Super Hornet arrived to land on the airline for the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft in the Red Sea. The onboard mechanism to slow down fighter jets failed, with a $67 million aircraft entering the water from the carrier’s runway.
It was the third fighter who lost within five months, coming hours after President Trump surprised Pentagon officials with the announcement that the US had reached a ceasefire with Yemen’s Hoosys. Truman arrived in the Red Sea in December 2024 to fight extremists. This took part in a campaign filled with tense, intense exchanges and close calls for the US Navy.
Authorities are now analyzing how a fierce enemy could test the world’s most capable surface fleet. Houthis has proven to be an incredibly difficult enemy, and despite fighting from a cave with a primitive quarter in one of the world’s poorest countries, it has been engaging the navy in the most fierce battles since World War II.
Houthis has benefited from a surge in cheap missiles and drone technology. They fired antiship ballistic missiles, the first combat use of Cold War weapons, and innovated the way weapons were deployed. Latest technology has changed naval warfare. This is a rewritten way of scripting the land wars in Ukraine, forcing the military to adapt in real time. The US is developing fresh ways to intercept the latest drones and missiles, but still relies primarily on expensive defense systems.
Approximately 30 ships have participated in this year’s combat operations in the Red Sea since the second half of 2023. Meanwhile, the US has rained at least $1.5 billion worth of munitions at Hoosys, US officials said.
The Navy has managed to destroy much of Houthis’ arsenal, but has yet to achieve its strategic goal of restoring transport through the Red Sea, and Houthis continues to regularly launch missiles in Israel.
Military and Congress leaders who have begun scrutiny of campaigns for lessons are concerned about the burden of such a tough development in the preparation of overall strength. The Pentagon is also investigating another SEA conflict, with lost planes and all involved in the Truman Strike Group, along with expected results in the coming months.
Central Command, also known as CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, has been asserted to comment on the performance and impact of ongoing investigations and campaigns.
The impact of the development has been felt for years. It portrayed resources from its efforts in Asia, blocked China and promoted airline maintenance schedules. It could create a significant gap in the second half of the decade where giant warships have no choice but to dock for service.
Despite wear and tears, naval officials said the fight against the Houches provided valuable combat experience and that the Red Sea conflict is seen as a warm-up for a potential “high-end” conflict with China within the Pentagon.
I was caught by surprise
Houthis gained considerable strength from Yemen’s long-term Civil War organizations (athletes of Yemen’s long-term civil war) ten years ago. They later rewind them by the Persian Gulf powers fighting a campaign led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
At the start of the war in Gaza, they chanted “Death to America, Death to Israel,” and chanted themselves as defenders of the Palestinians, and began attacking Israeli cities and ships (linked to Israel) passing through the Red Sea.
The USS Kearney Destroyer was in the Red Sea when the Hoosis fired the first barrage of drones and missiles on October 19, 2023, catching the crew off guard. By the end of the 10-hour engagement, the crew had endured the most intense battles seen by US Navy warships for much of the century, shooting down more than a dozen drones and four high-speed flying cruise missiles.
As Houthis pledged to step up the attack, US military officials were rushing to resolve logistical issues. Destroyers like Kearney have escaped the battle for two weeks on a roundtrip from the Mediterranean to Reim, with nearby countries wary of becoming Houthi’s target. The Pentagon ultimately secured access to what one official called the Red Sea “game-changing” port, allowing warships to reload without leaving the theater.
That December, Biden cobbled together a multinational coalition to protect one of the world’s busiest transport lanes and launched a US-led air strike campaign. For most of the campaign, the Pentagon held two carrier groups in the area, each consisting of at least five ships and about 7,000 sailors.
Throughout 2024, Houthis launched dozens of attacks on commercial transport (linked to Israel), and the US returned to Yemen to prevent impending attacks or degrade the arsenal. In February, a British-owned bulk carrier was hit and later sank into a freight of fertilizer. Three people were killed on a ship in the Barbados Formation after being attacked in March. Two more ships were abandoned in June after being struck by the Houthi missile.
The pace of the operation hit the seafarers who were always within the Houches and needed to remain vigilant in the 24th hour. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier made one short port call during seven months of combat.
On a particularly busy day last November, the naval ships had at least eight one-way attack drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and four anti-ship cruise missiles launched by Houthis, with no injuries or damage.
At a recent naval symposium, Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of the Middle Eastern US military commander, described USS Stockdale late last night. As the destroyers passed through chokepoints in the Southern Red Sea, the crew switched lights, charted the zigzag course and braced it for the attack.
After midnight, Houthis launched four ballistic missiles. The 509-foot destroyer accelerated and fired a surface-to-air missile in defense. One Houthi missile travelling at close to 4,000 mph was very close when intercepted, as it also had to fire down the falling debris.
Ten minutes later, Houthis fired an Antiship cruise missile. This was taken by a fighter from a nearby aircraft carrier. The Jets defeated multiple drones loaded with other cruise missiles and explosives, but the carrier attacked Hooty’s targets in Yemen.
Around 2am, another Houthi drone flew low and was slowly picked up directly in Stockdale. The only option was to have a fire occurring with automatic fire mounted on the deck. The crew erupted with cheers and high fives as the drone fell into the sea.
USS Gettysburg is running a tactic against the Hoosis in March.
“Sitting duck”
The battlefield supported extremists. In the limited waters of the Red Sea, only 200 miles at the widest points, the larger ships have limited ability to pilot and spend long periods, taking into account the coastline that Houthi Spotters can help target (Israel-related) ships.
Usually, crews had to decide how the drone and missile would be released a minute or two before the impact and respond within about 15 seconds. They intercepted hundreds of attacks by the Houches.
“You’re sitting there and within the range of Houthi’s weapons,” said Brian Clark, a former naval strategist and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
The Navy is used to working in similar environments in the Persian Gulf, where Iranians are in close range. However, militias like Houthis are more difficult to deter than regular governments, and such groups have become dangerous due to the surge in anti-ship ballistic missiles and attack drones.
“We were once able to operate near the coast like this, because we were expecting the enemy not to attack the carrier out of concern about the impact,” Clark said.
Seafarers often adjusted their radar systems to suit their sensitivity to give them time to intercept drones and missiles. According to an executive who spent six months in the Red Sea, checking radar settings to avoid picking up false positives while finding threats to a useful extent was one of the most challenging tasks and an important source of stress for boarding operators.
USS Truman’s Trial
The three lost fighters of the USS Truman are currently under investigation by the pentagon. “That’s unprecedented,” a Navy official said. “Maybe it’s pure coincidence or a bad one. Or there are some underlying issues.”
Earlier last year, naval seals, or special operational units on maritime ground, were lost at sea while boarding boats at night. One of the seals fell into the water while trying to climb the boat, and the other jumped after him. The Navy searched them for 10 days before declaring them as dead. The deaths occurred hundreds of miles off the coast of Somalia in the Arabian Sea, in the Yemeni Sea.
“For the past year, the Navy has been operating under the fierce fighting conditions of the Red Sea, the most active maritime conflict zone of a generation,” said Rep. Ken Calvert (R., California), who chairs the House Budget Subcommittee at the National Defense Hearing. The accident is tense. ”
Tactical changes
Houthis has never been successful with US ships, but it has improved with tracking mobile targets.
Early on, the Houthis often fired one or two missiles and drones at relatively high altitudes, allowing the navy to intercept, naval officials said. The militants then launched an attack at night, sending skimming projectiles just above the waves, making it difficult to track. They also mixed missile and drone pattern strikes.
Houthis was also able to lower over 12 US Reaper drones, each worth about $30 million.
When Houthis began attacking transports in the Red Sea in 2023, senior Centcom officials wanted to act proactively to reduce capacity, according to US officials, but the Biden administration was wary of escalation. By the time the strike was approved, Houthis had changed tactics and moved assets, which proved that US officials often found their plans and intelligence to be outdated.
After Trump took office, he gave General Eric Kurira, the head of Centcom, the authority to approve strikes, allowing the US to move faster with missile launchers and drone intelligence. Centcom declined to comment on the president’s decision.
The US poured resources into mid-March and launched operations called Roughriders, including a second US aircraft airline, a half-dozen B-2 bombers, a squadron of advanced F-35 fighter jets, and a destroyer armed with guide missiles.
After 53 days of fire, Houthis was abused, but not broken. The US airstrikes have killed hundreds of fighter jets, including several senior officials, destroying key fuel ports and large inventory of weapons and war materials. Houthis was unable to hit the US ship.
Hundreds of Yemeni civilian casualties have been reported after the US strengthened its strike, according to the Yemeni Data Project, an independent oversight group. Centcom said it is investigating allegations of civilian victims in Yemen.
A week before the truce was announced, an officer familiar with Houthi’s operations expressed surprise at the militants’ determination and adaptability. “Their missiles are getting more advanced, but that’s crazy,” he said. “So far, the US Navy has hit 1,000 (with intercept) and we expect that to continue, how long will it last?”
In the end, Trump resolved the ceasefire on the most basic conditions. Houthis will stop shootings on American ships, and the US will pause the bombing. As Truman passed the Suez Canal and steamed from the Mediterranean, the Houtis continued to rock ballistic missiles in Israel.