Since
the Houthi rebel faction began attacking Red Sea shipping last fall, U.S.
forces have encountered and engaged a wide variety of anti-ship weaponry in and
around Yemen. Shoot-downs and on-the-ground destruction of cruise missiles,
ballistic missiles, airborne drones and suicide drone boats have become a
matter of routine. Over the weekend,
U.S. forces identified and destroyed a new class of weaponry in Yemen: a drone
submersible, known in the trade as an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).
The new
sighting occurred during routine self-defense strikes over the weekend.
Overnight Friday,16 Feb, U.S. forces hit an anti-ship cruise missile and one
suicide drone boat within Yemen. On Saturday afternoon, Central Command hit
three more anti-ship cruise missiles, one more drone boat and - for the first
time - one unmanned underwater vessel (UUV), or drone sub.
CENTCOM
did not provide further details on the design or purpose of the drone sub, but
described it as the first of its kind since the latest round of Houthi attacks
began. The command described it as an "imminent threat" to U.S.
warships and international shipping.
Iran, the Houthi group's main
source of advanced weaponry, has unveiled several kinds of drone subs in the
past several years. The most useful model for the Houthis' purposes
would be the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' drone torpedo weapon. This
unnamed munition appears to have the functions of a torpedo, but with lower
speeds and longer range, according to analyst H.I. Sutton.
The IRGC
has also recently unveiled what appears to be a prototype of a much larger UUV,
though its design and purpose are unknown.
In a statement, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said
that the group had targeted a "British oil ship (Pollux) in the Red
Sea."
Despite Saree's claims, the Pollux does
not have any obvious links to Britain, and U.S. Central Command described it as
a Danish-owned vessel. Denmark recently dispatched a frigate to join the
U.S.-led maritime security mission in the Red Sea.
U.S.
officials are concerned that the regular drumbeat of Houthi attacks, air
defense intercepts and on-the-ground counterstrikes has become normal for the
American public - and that the true risks have been masked by American
capabilities.
"People
have gotten too used to us being really good at shooting these incoming
missiles down," an official told Fox News. "They don’t realize how
hard it is to do and the strain on the sailors manning the radar. The risk in the Red Sea right now has been
normalized and routinized . . . [it is a] very dangerous situation."
In
multiple interviews with American media outlets, destroyer officers have
emphasized that for some Houthi missiles, the amount of time the crew has to
detect the inbound threat and mount a defensive response is measured in
seconds.