US Navy Doesn’t Have the Right Ships for Red Sea Operations

Given the kind of ships that the Navy has available to deploy, is there any way to adjust tactics to help reduce the costs of defending against cheap drones?

A missile is launched from a warship during the U.S.-led coalition operation against military targets in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea, from an undisclosed location, in this handout picture released on Jan. 12, 2024. US Central Command via X/Handout via Reuters

Commentary

Right now, the U.S. Navy and its allies are fighting to eliminate the threat that Houthi drones and missiles pose to merchant shipping passing through the Red Sea on their way to the Suez Canal, a shipping lane that until recently was responsible for about 15 percent of the world’s shipping.