Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni
For more than a year, the Yemeni armed forces have been fighting a tight war of attrition against the US Navy and its allies in the Red Sea.
This war began in October 2023 after Sanaa’s decision to prevent the passage of Israeli ships through the strategic waterway in response to the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinians and later escalated to include targeting American and British ships, including warships, in response to America and Britain bombing Yemen to prevent it from militarily supporting Gaza and force it to lift the ban imposed on the navigation of the Israeli occupation.
Yemeni escalation and strategic shift:
Sana’a made a historic decision to challenge the American and Israeli naval hegemony across the Red Sea, using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones to expand the scope of its targeting. Since then, Yemeni operations have clearly confounded US naval and air defenses, despite the US sending aircraft carriers, the latest of which is the Harry S. Truman, to strengthen its military presence.
Targeting the Aircraft Carrier Harry S. Truman:
Despite the short period of its deployment in the northern Red Sea, far from Yemen, and after three other aircraft carriers preceded it, the first of which was the Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Harry S. Truman was subjected to six direct attacks by the Yemeni forces.
One of these prominent attacks resulted in a major malfunction in the American defenses, as the carrier group’s self-protection systems mistakenly targeted and shot down an American F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft.
This incident revealed the complexity and challenges of US operations in the face of Yemeni attacks.
American Losses and Ongoing Attrition:
The Cost of Defenses:
The US Navy relies heavily on advanced interceptor missiles such as the SM-2 and SM-6, each costing up to $5 million. The continuous repetition of Yemeni attacks imposes a huge financial drain on the American fleet.
Intensive Air Sorties:
Yemeni attacks require the intensive operation of aircraft such as the F/A-18, with the cost per sortie reaching $22,000 per hour, increasing the financial burden.
Ships Operation Costs:
US reports indicate that the cost of operating the successive US warships and aircraft carriers in the region to confront the Yemeni front over more than a year ranges from $700 million to $1 billion, which is an exorbitantly high cost that has even troubled members of the US Congress Defense Committee.
Strategic Impact:
Despite its technological superiority, the US was unable to stop the Yemeni military support front led by Sana’a for Gaza and the Palestinian resistance, reflecting a clear strategic failure.
Sana’a’s Role in Supporting Gaza:
In parallel with its operations in the Red Sea to permanently cut off Israeli navigation and cause the bankruptcy and permanent closure of the port of Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat), the Yemeni forces were able to militarily support the Palestinian resistance in confronting the brutal Israeli war of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, whether by direct shelling with ballistic and hypersonic ballistic missiles or winged missiles or drones, which has raised the concern of the American-Israeli alliance. Thus, Sana’a is today considered a regional axis linking multiple fronts in the Middle East conflict.
Yemen Imposes New Equations:
The war of attrition led by the Yemeni forces in the Red Sea reflects a major shift in the equation of the regional conflict, and despite US attempts to contain the situation, the huge human and financial costs indicate Yemen’s success in achieving its strategic objectives while keeping the US and its allies in a state of continuous defense.
Report by: Yahya Mohammad Al-Sharafi