A U.S. warship engaged in intercepting drones and missiles near the Yemeni coast on Thursday faced a more extensive and sustained barrage than initially reported. The ship successfully shot down four cruise missiles and fifteen drones over a span of nine hours, as revealed by a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.
The USS Carney, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer that transited the Suez Canal in a southward direction on Wednesday, intercepted the missiles and drones as they were traveling north along the Red Sea. The path of these projectiles left little doubt that their intended destination was Israel, according to the official. This assessment provided a more definite understanding of the situation compared to the initial Pentagon evaluation. U.S. warship engaged
A continuous onslaught of drones and missiles directed at Israel from locations far removed from the Gaza conflict is among several concerning indicators that the conflict might escalate beyond the boundaries of the coastal enclave.
Apart from the demonstrations occurring at U.S. embassies throughout the Middle East, there have been recurrent attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in Syria and Iraq over the past several days.
On Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed that the missiles were fired by Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen and were possibly aimed at targets in Israel. During the briefing, Ryder mentioned that there were three land-attack cruise missiles and “several” drones involved in the incident.
A concerning aspect was that certain projectiles were flying at altitudes that posed a potential risk to commercial aviation until they were intercepted, as noted by the U.S. official. The interception of the drones and missiles was executed using SM-2 surface-to-air missiles launched from the USS Carney.