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After months fighting Houthis on the USS Eisenhower, sailors face a new kind of sea threat

FOX News

Kirk Lippold discusses the reported three U.S. strikes against Houthis in Yemen on'Your World.' Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its accompanying warships have spent four months straight at sea defending against ballistic missiles and flying attack drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthis, and are now more regularly also defending against a new threat -- fast unmanned vessels that are fired at them through the water. While the Houthis have launched unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the past against Saudi coalition forces that have intervened in Yemen's civil war, they were used for the first time against U.S. military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Jan. 4. In the weeks since, the Navy has had to intercept and destroy multiple USVs. It's "more of an unknown threat that we don't have a lot of intel on, that could be extremely lethal -- an unmanned surface vessel," said Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, of which the Eisenhower is the flagship. The Houthis "have ways of obviously controlling them just like they do the (unmanned aerial vehicles), and we have very little little fidelity as to all the stockpiles of what they have USV-wise," Miguez said.


Houthis say they carried out drone attack on Israeli port of Eilat

Al Jazeera

Yemen's Houthi rebel group has said that it carried out drone attacks targeting the Israeli port city of Eilat, as well as a commercial vessel in the Red Sea, as the Iran-backed group steps up attacks that it says are a means of pressuring Israel to end its war in Gaza. Speaking on Tuesday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group conducted drone attacks on Eilat and "other areas in occupied Palestine". Sarea said the group also launched missiles at an MSC United vessel in the Red Sea after it rejected three warning calls. The statement comes several hours after a British maritime group said it received reports of an incident involving a vessel off the coast of Yemen, saying that drones were sighted and an explosion was heard. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) on Tuesday said the incident took place about 60 nautical miles (111km) outside of Yemen's Hodeidah port.


Tensions Spilling Over From Gaza Impact Shipping in the Red Sea

NYT > Middle East

The tensions spilling over from the war in Gaza to merchant shipping in the Red Sea escalated on Saturday when Britain and the United States said their militaries had shot down more than a dozen attack drones. The Houthis, an armed group that controls much of northern Yemen, have been staging drone and missile assaults on Israeli and American targets since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. They have said they intend to prevent Israeli ships from sailing the Red Sea until Israel stops its war on Hamas, which rules Gaza. Both the Houthis and Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, are backed by Iran. The shipping industry was also bracing for potential economic fallout as the Red Sea, a vital sea lane, is increasingly drawn into the regional unrest.


US warship shoots down three Houthi drones targeting commercial vessels in Red Sea: CENTCOM

FOX News

NSC Communications Coordinator John Kirby responds to progressive pushback against U.S. aid to Israel on'FOX News Sunday.' Three commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday, prompting a U.S. warship to shoot down multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) headed toward them. The development could signify a serious escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war. "Today, there were four attacks against three separate commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea," a statement by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) explained. "These three vessels are connected to 14 separate nations." The USS Carney was in the southern Red Sea, just north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, when it shot down three Houthi drones heading in its direction, a U.S. official told Fox News, adding that the action was taken in self-defense. The drones were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the official claimed.


Pentagon says US warship, commercial vessels under attack in Red Sea

FOX News

NSC Communications Coordinator John Kirby responds to progressive pushback against U.S. aid to Israel on'FOX News Sunday.' The Pentagon said Sunday a U.S. warship and multiple commercial vessels are under attack in the Red Sea. The development signifies a serious escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war. "We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available, later," Pentagon spokesman told Fox News, confirming reports of an attack on a U.S. warship in the Red Sea. The Pentagon initially told the Associated Press, "We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available." USS Carney is a Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that has been shooting down drones and cruise missiles in recent weeks launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who claimed credit for Sunday's attack.


Comment: how ships can outwit piracy with AI

#artificialintelligence

Deep learning is on the frontline in a new age of piracy, outwitting attacks with pre-emptive tech, explains Yarden Gross, CEO and co-founder of Orca AI. Almost a decade has passed since piracy raged off Somalia, and yet the danger posed by maritime hijackings is as present as ever. The global pandemic last year sparked a resurgence of attacks, with piracy incidents doubling across Asia, in a worrying uptick also seen in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. The fallout from coronavirus, including the loss of key security personnel, turned quarantined vessels into easy targets. This wave has since receded a little, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting a 44 per cent YoY dip in piracy and armed robbery incidents in 2021.


Israeli defense minister threatens Iran with military action

PBS NewsHour

Israel's defense minister warned Thursday that his country is prepared to strike Iran, issuing the threat against the Islamic Republic after a fatal drone strike on a oil tanker at sea that his nation blamed on Tehran. The comments by Benny Gantz come as Israel lobbies countries for action at the United Nations over last week's attack on the oil tanker Mercer Street that killed two people. The tanker, struck off Oman in the Arabian Sea, is managed by a firm owned by an Israeli billionaire. The U.S. and the United Kingdom also blamed Iran for the attack, but no country has offered evidence or intelligence to support the claim. Iran, which along with its regional militia allies has launched similar drone attacks, has denied being involved.