(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Talk about too close for comfort.
CNN reported Thursday that a cruise missile launched by the Houthis in the Red Sea came within a mile of a U.S. destroyer before being intercepted on Tuesday. CNN explained that a cruise missile can travel a mile in mere seconds.
According to CNN, the USS Gravely shot down the missile with a defense system that only hits targets that have made it past longer range defenses.
“In the past, these missiles have been intercepted by US destroyers in the area at a range of eight miles or more, the officials said,” CNN reported Thursday.
“But the USS Gravely had to use its Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) for the first time since the US began intercepting the Houthi missiles late last year, which ultimately succeeded in downing the missile,” CNN reported.
“The CIWS, an automated machine gun designed for close-range intercepts, is one of the final defensive lines the ship has to shoot down an incoming missile when other layers of defense have failed to intercept it.”
American forces have reportedly shot down nearly 70 Houthi drones and 20 anti-ship missiles in recent months, according to the War Zone.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly condemned the attacks, which come as President Joe Biden promises a prolonged bombing campaign against Iranian targets outside of that country.
Biden hasn’t publicly indicated how he’ll respond if Houthi missile actually hit a U.S. vessel, but administration officials were recently quoted by the New York Times as saying that the U.S. will go to war with Iran if a single U.S. troop is killed by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq or Syria.
“Biden administration officials have regularly debated the proper strategy. They do not want to let such attacks go without a response, but on the other hand do not want to go so far that the conflict would escalate into a full-fledged war, particularly by striking Iran directly,” the Times reported on Jan. 21.
“They privately say they may have no choice, however, if American troops are killed. That is a red line that has not been crossed, but if the Iranian-backed militias ever have a day of better aim or better luck, it easily could be.”
Austin Dahmer, a national security advisor for Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said the Houthi strikes are good reason to remove U.S. forces from the area.
Third option: discontinue putting our fleet in harm’s way for tertiary interest at all, and then you don’t have to expend incredibly scarce/expensive SM-6s OR risk allowing the missiles close enough to engage with the CIWS. https://t.co/6R5LdYYpj7
— Austin Dahmer (@austinjdahmer) February 1, 2024
“Discontinue putting our fleet in harm’s way for tertiary interest at all, and then you don’t have to expend incredibly scarce/expensive SM-6s OR risk allowing the missiles close enough to engage with the CIWS,” he said.
Meanwhile, Biden is partnering with al-Qaeda in Yemen to counter the Houthis.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
