Global Conflict Reporting

Tag: Arabian Sea

  • President Trump orders US forces to stop striking targets in Yemen; effective immediately.

    By. Scott Jackson

    05/06/2025

    After a months long bombing campaign against the Iranian backed Houthi terrorist in western Yemen, the White House has today announced that those strike will stop immediately. This was announced after Houthi leadership made contact with the U.S. leadership and according to trump agreed to stop striking ships in the Red Sea. This puts a close to “Operation Rough Rider” under president Trump as well as hundreds of strike carried out by the former Biden administration.

    The announcement was made during Trump’s meeting with Canadian PM Mark Carney. The conversation with the Houthis had been had the night before.

    “They have capitulated, but more importantly … we will take their word,” Trump said. “They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.”

    It’s very likely Iran played a part in this turn. Possibly telling the Houthis to cease their actions against shipping following threats from the U.S. during the ongoing negotiations.

    Trump wouldn’t say specifics on who he talked to only that the k do that the Houthis would be backing down came from “a good source”. The Houthis, reeling from yesterday’s attack by Israel released this statement yesterday.

    “The operations of our armed forces will continue and the support by Yemen to Palestine will only end with the end of the aggression and siege against Gaza,” -Houthi statement from Al Masirah TV.

    While the U.S. has agreed to stop bombing the Houthis, Israel is another matter and have carried out more strikes since what was reported yesterday. Locals in Yemen as well as the IDF report the bombing of Sana’a airport as well as various power stations, and another concrete factory. Videos included below.

    Video showing the full footage of the aftermath of the attack on Sana’a international airport.

    US forces in the region.

    The U.S. has brought in a large amount of military assets to carry out its attacks against the Houthis. Currently from the navy two aircraft carriers are operating in the region, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75), these ships are both escorted and supported by numerous destroyer squadrons and several cruisers, not to mention their air wings. Several other destroyers have been ordered to the region and are operating separately of the carrier strike groups. Also USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Princeton (CG-59) both Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers have also been ordered to the region as apart of Operation Prosperity Guardian and have been used to strike Houthi targets as well. At least one Ohio class submarine USS Georgia (SSGN-729) has been spotted in theater as well. The Air Force has sent a large number of planes to the region included F-35s and F-22s as well as B-2 Spirit bombers stationed at Diego Garcia. As of several hours ago a pair of B-52s were heading towards the region from the continental US. It’s likely at least some of these assets will remain in the CENTCOM area of responsibility as negotiations with Iran over their nuclear program continue. The White House and Trump have threatened to use military force if the negotiations fail.

    Image from USNi news shows the current general location of the U.S. aircraft carriers.

    The Truman just several days ago had its deployment to the Middle East extended by another week, to continue to keep up a high tempo of attacks against the Houthis. This could possibly be extended further if negotiations are unsuccessful.

    After writing this it was announced that Oman had carried out the negotiations between the Houthis and the US. They had been the go between in the conversation which led to the U.S. ceasing it’s military strikes. 

    I’d like to thank everybody for the constant support I’ve received. These last 5 years have flown by but I feel like GCR continues to grow and improve in its reporting and analysis. I’m always open to comments and questions and can be reached on Facebook or through my email which is listed on the website. 

    I’m currently looking for guest for a future podcast series I’m planning on running. If you have an interesting military story to tell contact me and let’s talk. I want to hear your stories. 

    If you would like to go the extra mile and further support me and the work being done here, you can sign up for my Patreon through the button below for only $1.00 a month. Future video and audio projects to be released there soon. 

    -Scott

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  • US Department of Defense reveals the amount of munitions expended while engaging the Houthis in the Red Sea. 

    US Department of Defense reveals the amount of munitions expended while engaging the Houthis in the Red Sea. 

    The US military has been engaged in defensive operations against the Yemeni Houthis for the past 15 months in the waters of the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea as well as the sky’s above Yemen. Several different US carrier strike groups have been deployed into the area to protect the billions of dollars of international commerce that moves through the Red Sea daily heading to and from the Suez Canal. The Houthis have targeted any ship they believe is connected in any way to America or Israel as a way to show support for Palestinian terror group Hamas and their war with Israel in Gaza. 

    The Head of Naval Surface Forces Vice Admiral Brendan McLane revealed at a Surface Navy Association conference that was attended by journalists from The War Zone( TWZ is great, I always recommend them when they come up) just how many munitions had been expended in the operation. Statements made by the Vice Admiral also give us a more detailed look at how the operation has been going and what US forces as well as their European allies have been dealing with. US CENTCOM which is the United States military command over The Middle East  region regularly puts out reports and social media post however they can sometimes be sparse with the details. 

    The U.S. Navy Surface Fleet has expended 400 individual munitions against the Iranian backed Houthis.

    The Vice Admiral also gave an example of the current state of modern surface warfare by talking about a recent engagement that the sailers aboard the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111).

    “They were in a fight where they shot down 3 anti-ship ballistic missiles(ASBM), 3 anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) and 7 one-way [unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs],” McLane said. “So that’s how it kind of rolls up.”

    USS Spruance (DDG 111) after its return to its homeport, Naval Base San Diego, Cali

    I’d like to break down the specific munitions, what they are used for, and maybe most importantly- the cost to the American taxpayers. 

    USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) fires an SM-2 missile.

    SM-2 missiles (RIM-66)

    120 expended. This missile is the workhorse of US navy air defense, being used to take out incoming anti ship missiles as well as other 

    missiles and incoming enemy jet fighters.. High speed-highly maneuverable and considered one of the best in the world at what it does. The Sm-2 has a reported range of 90 nautical miles and can reach an altitude of 65,000 ft. A cornerstone of the fleets layered air defense systems. 

    SM-2

    Cost vary on specific missile block but these come in at roughly $2 million USD per. 

    The U.S. is reported to have around 12,000 of these in its stocks.

    US Aegis Destroyer intercepts Medium-Range Ballistic Missile with new SM-6 SWUP Missile.

    SM-6 missiles (RIM-174)

    80 expended

    This is a newer addition to the fleet and the navy has a more limited stock of these missile with only 500 being reported to have been delivered according to the Raytheon website. 

    Coming equipped with the active radar seeker found in the Air-to-air AIM-120C AMRAAM, This missile is capable of a wide range of task being capable of defensive anti air against missile (including ballistic missile in their final terminal phase) as well as manned and unmanned air units. Its high speed also makes it a useful anti surface weapons although it’s high cost makes other weapons better choices. The thought behind this missile was warship today have limited space and a weapon that can effectively do everything is a benefit.  The explosive warhead as opposed to a hit-to-kill style missile makes this missile capable of potentially defeating the Chinese DF-21D and DF-25B anti-ship ballistic missiles. 

    SM-6 missile profile.

    Cost average around $3.9 million per. 

    A combined 20 expended from the 

    Sea sparrow and the SM-3. 

    Sea Sparrow launch

    Sea Sparrow ESSM

    Medium-range, semi-active homing missile that makes flight corrections via radar and midcourse data uplinks. The missile provides reliable ship self-defense capability against agile, high-speed, low-altitude anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), low velocity air threats (LVATs), such as helicopters, and high-speed, maneuverable surface threats

    Sea Sparrow Profile

     $787K – $972K depending on configuration

    SM-3 launched from the USS McCampbell (DDG 85) intercepts ballistic missile .

    SM-3 (RIM-161)

    The SM-3 is the main ballistic missile defense of the fleet. It uses its powerful kinetic energy to utilize a hit-to-kill method of attack. It has a lower production rate than everything else on the list which also puts a heavy cost on these missile, especially if you have to fire more than one at a time. 

    SM-3 missile profile

    Anywhere from $10 million to $30 million (this price likely to come down some as missile production is ramped up as announced earlier today. 

    While the expenditure of these weapons is something to be concerned about it only highlights the logistical issues that the US would have in a near peer, great power conflict when the amount of munitions expended in the Red Sea over the past year would equal only several days of fighting in say the pacific against China. Addressing these procurement and cost issues is paramount if the US is to remain a dominant force on the world’s stage.