Prosperity Guardian Counts 19 (of 61) Cyclops/Vampires

231206-N-GF955-1026 U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS (Dec. 6, 2023) Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) responds to a simulated small-craft vessel during an anti-terrorism drill, Dec. 6. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

The latest press briefing by the Pentagon has the CENTCOM commander, VADM Brad Cooper, remarking that the U.S. Navy alone has splashed 61 incoming Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea since late October in now some 25 attacks on merchant shipping. This apparently doesn’t count drones and missiles shot down by the British RN or French fleet.

Of that number, 19 have been swatted down since Operation Prosperity Guardian kicked off on 18 December 2023, expanding “Of the 19 drones and missiles, 11 have been uncrewed aerial vehicles. There have been two cruise missiles and six anti-ship ballistic missiles.”

OPG has also zapped three small boats while a large boat-borne IED was released offshore earlier this week. 

While at least two vessels have been hit by Houthis, Cooper said that “1,500 vessels have safely transited through the Bab al-Mandab,” since OPG started with none by UAVs. Notably, Maersk Hangzhou was hit by a missile which caused no casualties. Speaking of which, the only injuries thus far are to Houthi smallboat crews, with at least 10 killed.

Nonetheless, on 2 January, both Maersk and Happag-Lloyd announced that the Red Sea route would once again be avoided moving forward.

While it hasn’t been released just what kind of missiles are being sent up from coastal batteries along the Yemeni coast, the Houthis have developed a modified version of the Iranian Quds-1 and Quds-2 cruise missiles, with Iranian assistance. Iran also has Chinese C802 and C700 series AShMs and a whole series of domestically produced variants, such as the Noor, Ghader, and Ghadir.

Many of these are set up to be very mobile– and thus hard to target.

Transporter erector launcher (TELs) for Iranian Noor/Qader missiles. The TEL can be disguised as a civilian truck. (Wiki Commons)

Carney Going Home

231019-N-GF955-1104 RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

The American ship with the most documented “kills,” including 14 drones shot down in a single day (16 December), is the modernized Flight I Burke, USS Carney (DDG-64).

Before that incident, Carney had counted at least a 22-0 score on the eve of the Army-Navy game in early December.

Carney, which is headed home, just hosted VADM Cooper aboard who presented the whole crew with a CAR while some individuals picked up a NAM and the skipper a Bronze Star.

For now, the Ike carrier group is in the region with her DESRON 22 tin cans keeping watch along with the British Type 45 frigate HMS Diamond while other countries are promising a couple grey hulls as well.

With Denmark set to send a frigate to the Red Sea to take part in OPG, the Royal Danish Navy just released a video of the air defense frigate Iver Huitfeldt undergoing Fleet Operational Sea Training, preparing to fight while underway.

Since you have come this far, take a look at these two semi-related videos, featuring the Army’s new 1-3 week counter-drone school– including the use of a Smart Shooter device for M4 carbines, and a sit down with some Ukrainian soldiers who are manufacturing 3D-printed parts for reconnaissance and kamikaze drones on the cheap– which is the future of warfare as we are seeing it today.