An anti-ship cruise missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists this week reportedly came within a few seconds of hitting a U.S. warship in the Red Sea.
“On Jan. 30, at approximately 11:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship cruise missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Red Sea,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “The missile was shot down by USS Gravely (DDG 107).”
CNN subsequently reported that the missile “came within a mile” of the ship before it was shot down by the ship’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), which the U.S. Navy describes as a fast-reaction, detect-through-engage, radar guided 20-millimeter gun weapon system.
“In the past, these missiles have been intercepted by US destroyers in the area at a range of eight miles or more,” the report said. “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.”
Given that cruise missiles travel at hundreds of miles per hour, the fact that it came within a mile of the ship means that it was at maximum only a few seconds away from impact.
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Wow, the USS Gravely had to use its Phalanx CIWS against a Houthi cruise missile per a U.S. official to CNN.
This is essentially the ships last layer of defense against any incoming attacks.
(The video below shows one in action!) pic.twitter.com/I1SYYydbbZ
— Global: Military-Info (@Global_Mil_Info) January 31, 2024
The incident comes after three U.S. soldiers were murdered, and nearly three dozen more were injured, in a suicide drone attack on a U.S. Military base in Jordan on Sunday.
Biden has said that he intends to respond to the deadly attacks over the weekend but no military response has happened yet.