DDG 107 USS Gravely
The USS Gravely had a close call with a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile on Tuesday while on patrol in the Red Sea. CENTCOM described it this way:
On Jan. 30, at approximately 11:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship cruise missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Red Sea. The missile was successfully shot down by USS Gravely (DDG 107). There were no injuries or damage reported.
The intercept was not nearly as sanguine as the press release makes it sound. The missile got within a mile of the Burke class destroyer before it was engaged. The ship’s Phalanx CIWS system shot it down mere seconds before it would have impacted.
The Gravely has been on-station in the Red sea for several months and has been involved in several missile intercepts.
The fact that the missile got within a mile of the ship is worrisome. It could mean one of several things went wrong; The AEGIS system either failed to detect the missile at all or in time to launch one of the SM-2 SAMs from the VLS; an intercept missile was fired but failed to destroy the missile for some reason; there was a command failure or they decided to engage with the CIWS either for training purposes or to conserve interceptor missiles.
Sooner or later one of the Houthi attacks will leak through, it’s a matter of probabilities. As we’ve seen so far, the current administration will probably sit on its collective hands and do nothing when that eventuality manifests.