US Navy faces most intense fighting since World War II against Houthi rebels

ABOARD THE USS LABOON IN THE RED SEA — The U.S. Navy prepared for decades to potentially fight the Soviet Union, and later Russia and China, on the world's waterways. But instead of becoming a global power, the Navy finds itself battling an obscure Iranian-backed rebel group based in Yemen.

The U.S.-led campaign against Houthi rebels, overshadowed by Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has morphed into the most intense naval battle the navy has faced since World War II world, its leaders and experts told the Associated Press.

The fight pits the Navy's mission to keep international waterways open against a group whose former arsenal of assault rifles and pickup trucks has become a seemingly inexhaustible supply of drones, missiles and other weapons. The Houthis' near-daily attacks since November have clearly targeted more than 50 ships, while shipping volume has plummeted in the vital Red Sea corridor that leads to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

The Houthis say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war in Gaza and supporting the Palestinians, although they come as they try to strengthen their position in Yemen. All signs suggest that the war will intensify, further endangering American sailors, their allies, and commercial ships.

I don't think people really understand how extremely serious what we're doing is and how ships continue to be at risk, Cmdr. Eric Blomberg of the USS Laboon told the AP about a visit to his warship on the Red Sea.

We only have to be wrong once,” he said. “The Houthis just have to succeed.

The pace of the fire is visible on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, where paint around the hatches of its missile pods has been burned away by repeated launches. Its sailors sometimes have seconds to confirm a launch by the Houthis, confer with other ships and open fire on a barrage of missiles that can travel near or faster than the speed of sound.

It’s every day, every watch, and some of our ships have been here for over seven months doing it,” said Capt. David Wroe, the commodore overseeing the guided-missile destroyers.

On January 9, a salvo of gunfire saw the Laboon, other ships and F/A-18s from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower shoot down 18 drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis .

Almost every day, except for a slowdown during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Houthis launch missiles, drones or some other type of attack into the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the The narrow strait of Bab el-Mandeb which connects and separates the waterways. Africa of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Navy saw periods of combat during the 1980s tanker wars in the Persian Gulf, but much of that involved ships hitting mines. The Houthi assaults involve direct attacks on commercial ships and warships.

This is undoubtedly the most sustained combat the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II, said Bryan Clark, a former Navy submariner and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. We're kind of on the cusp of allowing the Houthis to launch the type of attacks that the United States can't stop every time, and then we'll start to see substantial damage. If you let this fester, the Houthis will become a much more capable, competent and experienced force.

While the Eisenhower appears to remain largely at arm's length, destroyers like the Laboon spend six days a week near or off Yemen's weapons engagement zone, in Navy parlance.

Maritime combat in the Middle East remains risky, something the Navy knows well. In 1987, an Iraqi warplane fired missiles that struck the USS Stark, a frigate patrolling the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, killing 37 sailors and nearly sinking the ship.

There is also the USS Cole, targeted in 2000 by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers boarded during a refueling stop in the port city of Aden in Yemen, which killed 17 people on board. AP journalists saw the Cole patrolling the Red Sea with the Laboon on Wednesday, the same day the Houthis launched a drone attack on a commercial vessel that destroyed the vessel.

The commercial vessel was abandoned on Friday and left adrift and unlit in the Red Sea, the British military's maritime commercial operations center said.

Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander of the Navy's Second Carrier Strike Group, which includes the Eisenhower and support ships, said the Navy also neutralized a bomb-carrying underwater drone launched by the Houthis during countryside.

“We're pretty confident right now that not only is Iran providing financial support, but it's also providing intelligence support,” Miguez said. We know for a fact that the Houthis have also undergone training to target US shipping and warships.

Asked if the navy believed Iran was choosing targets for the Houthis, Miguez simply said there was collaboration between Tehran and the rebels. He also noted that Iran continues to arm the Houthis, despite UN sanctions blocking arms transfers to them.

Iran's mission to the United Nations told the AP that Tehran “is adept at countering U.S. strategy in a way that not only strengthens (the Houthis) but also ensures compliance with relevant resolutions.”

The risk is not only on the water. The U.S.-led campaign has carried out numerous airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in Yemen, including what the U.S. military describes as radar stations, launch sites, arsenals and other locations. On May 30, a series of U.S. and British strikes killed at least 16 people, the deadliest attack acknowledged by the rebels.

Eisenhower's air crews dropped more than 350 bombs and fired 50 missiles at targets during the campaign, said Capt. Marvin Scott, who oversees all of the air group's planes. Meanwhile, the Houthis reportedly shot down several MQ-9 Reaper drones equipped with surface-to-air missile systems.

The Houthis also have ground-to-air capabilities that we have significantly degraded, but they are still present and still there, Scott said. We are always ready to be shot by the Houthis.

Officers recognize some discontent among their crew, wondering why the Navy isn't striking harder against the Houthis. The White House has not discussed the Houthi campaign on the same level as negotiations over the war between Israel and Hamas.

There are several probable reasons. The United States has indirectly tried to reduce tensions with Iran, particularly after Tehran launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel and is now enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels than ever before.

Meanwhile, there are the Houthis themselves. The rebel group fought a Saudi-led coalition to a stalemate in a broader war that has killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

Leaders of the Shiite Zaydi group likely want the United States to fight the Houthis directly. Their motto has long been: God is greatest; died for America; Death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory of Islam. Fighting the United States and publicly siding with the Palestinians draws praise from rebels in the Middle East.

While U.S. and European partners patrol the waterways, Saudi Arabia has remained largely silent, seeking a peace deal with the Houthis. Reports suggest that some Middle Eastern countries have asked the United States not to launch attacks against the Houthis from its soil, making Eisenhower's presence even more critical. The aircraft carrier has seen its deployment extended, while its crew has had only one port call since its deployment, a week after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

Meanwhile, Houthi attacks continue to harm maritime transport in the region. Egypt's revenues from the Suez Canal, a key source of hard currency for its struggling economy, have halved since the attacks began. AP reporters saw only one commercial vessel moving on the once-busy waterway.

It's almost a ghost town, Blomberg admitted.

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