Tag: 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.”

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

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. 

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.

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. 

Cost average around $3.9 million per. 

A combined 20 expended from the 

Sea sparrow and the SM-3. 

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

 $787K – $972K depending on configuration

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. 

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.