Red Sea / Houthi Campaign

Beginning in late 2023, Yemen's Houthi rebels launched what would become the most significant challenge to freedom of navigation since World War II — and the most intense naval combat the United States Navy has faced in 80 years. Armed with Iranian-supplied anti-ship ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and one-way attack drones, the Houthis turned the Red Sea into a war zone, ostensibly in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Gaza war.

The opening salvo came on November 19, 2023, when Houthi forces seized the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-owned, Bahamas-flagged car carrier, by helicopter assault. The 25 crew members were taken hostage, and the ship was towed to Hodeidah port where it became a macabre tourist attraction — Houthi supporters posed for selfies on the captured vessel's deck. The seizure sent shockwaves through the maritime industry.

What followed was an escalating campaign of maritime terror. Houthi forces launched over 200 attacks on commercial and military vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the narrow chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 12% of global trade passes through this corridor via the Suez Canal. Within weeks, the world's largest shipping companies — Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM — suspended Red Sea transits entirely, rerouting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. The detour added 10-14 days and $1 million or more in fuel costs to each voyage.

The economic devastation was staggering. Suez Canal traffic plummeted by 50%, costing Egypt billions in lost revenue. Maritime insurance premiums tripled for Red Sea transits. Global supply chains, still recovering from COVID-era disruptions, were thrown into chaos. The total economic disruption has been estimated at over $100 billion when accounting for increased shipping costs, delayed deliveries, insurance premiums, and cascading effects on global commodity prices.

On December 18, 2023, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval coalition to escort and protect commercial shipping. But the coalition was weaker than advertised — many partners contributed only staff officers, not warships. The heavy lifting fell almost entirely on the US Navy and, to a lesser extent, the Royal Navy.

The most dramatic moment came on January 10, 2024, when the Houthis launched their largest coordinated attack: 18 drones, 2 cruise missiles, and 1 anti-ship ballistic missile, all fired simultaneously. The USS Eisenhower carrier strike group and coalition destroyers intercepted every projectile in a engagement that defense officials called the most intense naval air defense action since World War II.

Two days later, on January 12, the US and UK launched Operation Poseidon Archer — direct strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen. Over 60 targets across 16 locations were hit in the opening salvo, including radar sites, drone storage facilities, and missile launch positions. President Biden announced the strikes without seeking congressional authorization, citing Article II self-defense powers.

But the Houthis proved remarkably resilient. Despite 931+ coalition airstrikes over the following year, the attack tempo actually increased. The Houthis demonstrated the ability to rebuild launch sites and resume attacks within 24-48 hours of being struck. Their dispersed, mobile launch infrastructure proved nearly impossible to permanently eliminate.

The human cost came into sharp focus in early 2024. On February 18, a Houthi anti-ship missile struck the MV Rubymar, a UK-registered bulk carrier loaded with 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer. The crew abandoned ship, and the Rubymar sank on March 2 — the first commercial vessel lost to Houthi attacks — creating an environmental catastrophe in the Red Sea. On March 6, the True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier, was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile, killing three crew members — the first fatalities of the shipping campaign.

Individual US warships became legends of the campaign. The USS Carney (DDG-64) became the most combat-active destroyer in modern Navy history, shooting down dozens of drones and missiles across multiple engagements. In one early engagement on October 19, 2023, the Carney intercepted cruise missiles and drones over several hours in the northern Red Sea. The USS Gravely (DDG-107) achieved the closest-range intercept in modern naval combat history when its Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) — a radar-guided 20mm Gatling gun — destroyed an incoming Houthi cruise missile at less than one mile from the ship. The crew had seconds to live.

The USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) conducted the longest combat deployment since Vietnam, spending over 9 months at sea. Its air wing flew hundreds of strike sorties against Houthi targets, expending munitions at rates not seen since the 1991 Gulf War. The strain on crews was immense — extended deployments with high-intensity combat operations and no port calls.

In October 2024, the US escalated dramatically by deploying B-2 Spirit stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to strike five hardened underground Houthi weapons storage facilities. The B-2 strikes — the first combat use of the stealth bomber since Libya in 2017 — targeted bunkers that conventional strikes couldn't penetrate. The message was clear: the US was willing to deploy its most advanced strategic assets against a rebel group in Yemen.

The asymmetric economics of the campaign were devastating. The Houthis launched drones costing a few thousand dollars each; the US responded with SM-2 missiles costing $2.1 million and SM-6 missiles costing $4.3 million apiece. A single carrier strike group costs approximately $7 million per day to operate. Over the course of the campaign, the US expended more than $1 billion in munitions alone — not counting the billions in operational costs for ship deployments, aircraft sorties, intelligence operations, and logistics. The total bill exceeded $4.5 billion.

More dangerously, the campaign depleted SM-2 and SM-6 missile stocks faster than the US could produce them. These interceptors were designed and stockpiled for potential great-power conflicts with China or Russia — not for shooting down $2,000 drones over the Red Sea. Every missile fired at a Houthi drone was one fewer missile available for the defense of Taiwan or NATO allies.

Despite zero US combat deaths, there were multiple close calls that could have resulted in mass casualties. The Gravely intercept at under one mile, multiple instances of drones passing within hundreds of yards of warships, and the sheer volume of Houthi attacks created a statistical near-certainty of an eventual hit. Naval analysts noted that the campaign represented the first time since WWII that US Navy surface combatants faced sustained anti-ship missile threats.

The ceasefire reached in May 2025 was largely on Houthi terms. They retained their attack capability, their leadership was intact, and they had successfully demonstrated that a rebel group armed with cheap weapons could hold global trade hostage and force the world's most powerful navy into a prolonged, expensive, and ultimately inconclusive defensive campaign. The Houthis declared victory — and it was hard to argue they were wrong.