U.S. forces blew up nearly a dozen terrorist suicide drones inside Yemen during the early morning hours on Thursday (Sanaa time), according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
The announcement came after CENTOM said separately that the USS Carney shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile that the Houthis fired late Wednesday night. Three subsequent drones were also shot down.
“U.S. forces identified the UAV ground control station and one-way attack UAVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region,” CENTCOM said in statement. “U.S. Forces subsequently struck and destroyed the UAV ground control station and 10 one-way attack UAVs in self-defense.”
On Tuesday, a Houthi cruise missile was fired at the USS Gravely in the Red Sea and came dangerously close to hitting the ship.
CNN 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.”
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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.