Too close for missiles, switching to guns: How the Navy learned to fight Houthi drones
Story by Jeff Schogol • 20h
If it’s Friday, it’s time for the Rundown! This week, we took a close look at how the Navy fought an undeclared war in the Red Sea from October 2023 to January 2025, during which the service fired more than $1 billion worth of interceptors at missiles, drones, and other threats launched by Houthi rebels and Iran.
After firing a shipload of extremely costly missiles, some with a price tag as high as $28.7 million per munition, the Navy switched to less expensive options, such as 5-inch main gun rounds, to shoot down drones flying low or close to ships. That’s right, it was literally too close for missiles, so they switched to guns.
Although the conflict has been on hiatus since Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement in January, there’s always the chance that the Houthis could start attacking ships in the Red Sea again.
On a personal note, my grandfather John W. Duff served as a gunnery officer aboard the battleship USS New Mexico during World War II. When I was a kid, I’d ask him about the battle of Okinawa, when his ship was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze. The New Mexico was one of 225 vessels damaged by Kamikaze attacks from April to June 1945. Another 26 ships were sunk. Nearly 5,000 sailors were killed in the battle.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/too-close-for-missiles-switching-to-guns-how-the-navy-learned-to-fight-houthi-drones/ar-AA1AsK0G?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=086e18ba93324967a729b8353e109c43&ei=97
