2024-02-15 17:15:00
Aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CNN) — Alarms sounded on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea at 4 a.m. Tuesday, warning personnel to prepare for possible flight operations against a Houthi drone that was hovering over nearby ships.
In the end it was considered that this drone did not constitute a threat. But the incident showed that the carrier’s crew is constantly on high alert for possible threats from Iran-backed Yemeni fighters, who have been routinely attacking commercial ships and U.S. and coalition forces along this important waterway with missiles and drones. river.
Aboard two ships leading the US response to the Houthi attacks, the Eisenhower and the US destroyer USS Gravely, in the southern Red Sea, CNN gained unique access and spoke with sailors and pilots who said the Houthi threat remains unpredictable and unprecedented.
The US Navy is working at a frenetic pace, deploying jets and firing missiles on a dime to try to destroy Houthi weapons and infrastructure.
But after dozens of strikes over the past month against Houthi targets both over the Red Sea and inside Yemen, CNN was told that the US military still does not know exactly how many of the Houthi capabilities have been destroyed, or for how long. will be needed to deter them definitively.
“It’s a convoluted set of problems that we don’t have a lot of confidence about,” Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, told CNN on Tuesday.
Unlike state actors like Iran, Russia and China, which the US has prioritized in intelligence gathering for years, the US wasn’t paying much attention to the Houthis before they started launching missiles regularly. to the Red Sea, Miguez said. So the United States does not know for sure how much the Houthis have stored, especially in terms of what they have buried underground.
Real-time learning
The Houthi attacks also mark the first time anti-ship ballistic missiles have been used in combat, and personnel aboard warships are learning in real time how to respond.
“This is not exactly where we expected to be on this deployment,” said Capt. James Huddleston, the deputy commander of Carrier Air Wing 3 who regularly flies missions over the Red Sea and Yemen.
“Anytime you do something for the first time in a region, it’s not without risk,” Huddleston said. “But we have managed that risk for our strike group and our aircrew through combat power management.”
Dozens of fighter jets take off every day from the aircraft carrier Ike to take to the skies of the Red Sea in case they are tasked with carrying out an attack against a Houthi target.
An F/A-18 with afterburner prepares to take off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea. Credit: Scott Pisczek/CNN
All jets carry air-to-ground missiles so they can immediately respond to a threat, Miguez said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of information on most of these things, especially ballistic missiles,” he said. The Houthis have also changed their tactics in recent weeks, using drones more regularly to target and attack ships.
“They have tried to target coalition forces, U.S. forces, through swarm attacks, using multiple autonomous drones, using multiple anti-ship ballistic cruise missiles,” said Capt. Marvin Scott, commanding officer of the Carrier Air Wing. 3. “They’re trying everything they can, but we’re prepared for anything they can throw at us.”
In many cases, the Houthis have been using the Samad-3 drone, Miguez said, which is long-range and carries an explosive payload. The Houthis have also been using Iranian-made drones, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“We know for a fact that they are a threat, so we have been taking them down more and more frequently,” he said.
CNN previously reported that the US intelligence community has picked up signs that Iranians are becoming nervous about the Houthi attacks because of the impact they have had on some of Iran’s only allies, including China and India.
Authorities believe that at one point, Iran was using one of its suspected spy ships, the Behshad, long stationed in the southern Red Sea, to help the Houthis attack ships in that area. But in a notable shift, Iran moved the ship to the coast of Djibouti earlier this month for the first time in more than two years, Miguez said. This has reduced the Houthis’ ability to track ships in the Gulf of Aden.
Seconds or minutes to respond
Meanwhile, the crew aboard the destroyer USS Gravely in the Red Sea is the tip of the spear against Houthi missiles and drones. Sailors often have seconds to respond to an incoming missile.
“We could have seconds or minutes,” said Lt. JG James Rodney, who works at Gravely’s Combat Information Center. “I wouldn’t say much more than minutes.”
The Gravely is equipped with long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of hitting targets inside Yemen. But more often, the ship is deploying its anti-aircraft and anti-surface missiles at closer ranges as Houthi missiles and drones approach. Last month, however, a Houthi missile came so close to the Gravely – less than 1.6 km – that the ship had to use its last line of defense, known as the Phalange, to shoot it down. The incident is being investigated, according to Miguez.
The Houthi bombing has been so relentless that the aircraft carrier Ike and nearby destroyers have not called at any port in months, which is highly unusual. Sailors said the environment is stressful, but having a mission has helped them.
“It’s definitely not what we expected, being out here,” said FC1 Michael Zito, who helps man the Gravely’s .54-caliber Mark 45 cannon and other onboard weapons systems. “We were hoping to have a more relaxed and calm deployment. But this is what we have been training for constantly, day in and day out for years, and we are prepared for whatever comes up. We will do what has to be done.”
— CNN’s Scott Pisczek contributed to this report.
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