Insights gained by the Navy from its operations in the Red Sea

The Navy destroyer LaboonPhoto byU.S. Navy

The present commander of the Navy's surface fleet was the destroyer Carney's captain thirteen years ago.

Now the chief of Naval Surface Forces, Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, told reporters earlier this month that his ship had tactics and weapons ready even in 2010 for the threat of aerial drones.

The strategy and ammunition used were carefully planned, according to McLane.

In recent months, McLane has observed his former warship Carney, together with destroyers Gravely, Laboon, Mason, and Thomas Hudner, shoot down dozens of attack drones and missiles in the Red Sea.

supported by Iran Commercial vessels navigating the important economic canal have been targeted by Houthi militants, who have also attacked Navy warships. Attacks have been occurring frequently since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, and Israel's subsequent operations to drive the militant group out of the Gaza Strip.

As a spearhead in stopping these strikes, the Carney and other warships have shot down scores of Houthi air attack drones.

There has been an unprecedented amount of intercepts in the Red Sea for the Navy, and the surface fleet is rapidly learning from these encounters. Whether or not last week's U.S.-led bombing of Houthi sites in Yemen will cause the rebels to relent meaningfully is yet to be determined.

Additional concerns regarding the appropriateness of some naval weaponry for this task have been raised by these lessons. The surface fleet is monitoring developments "very closely," according to McLane, who recently declined to discuss the exact ways in which the conflict in the Red Sea is influencing training and tactics due to classification limits.

The data we're obtaining from the tapes on the Carney and the other ships are being analyzed by our military tactics instructors, he said. Additionally, we are paying particular attention to profiles and the tasks associated with radar tuning. And how to configure the ship's weapon system such that we maintain... maximum defensive capabilities constantly.

Rear Adm. Joseph Cahill, head of Naval Surface Force Atlantic, told reporters this month that those instructors are also assisting to evaluate data and deliver improved tactics, techniques, and procedures.

Jan van Tol, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and a retired forward-deployed warship captain, said that while destroyers have participated in numerous missions to maintain trade in the Middle East, the current months-long endeavor to shoot down Houthi missiles and drones is unprecedented and the Navy hasn't routinely done since gunfire support missions during the Vietnam War.

The surface fleet is navigating the Red Sea in an unfamiliar environment, both in terms of the kinds of munitions they are intercepting and the persistence of the threat.

"This is a mix we haven't seen before, and it does represent a new wrinkle," said retired Vice. Adm. Robert Murrett, who is currently the head of Syracuse University's Institute for Security Policy and Law and was previous vice director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Carney's commander, Cmdr. Jeremy Robertson, has reportedly told McLane that, despite his crew's best efforts, the deck plates have been accelerated due to the mission's critical nature.

Robertson informed McLane that he had fifteen reenlistment contracts in his possession just two days following their initial engagement, according to McLane. I believe this is related to our efforts to cultivate a culture of warfighting and the resources we have allocated to [weapons tactics instructors].

"Our sailors are incredibly motivated when they successfully operate their weapons systems according to the instructions."

Edited by Newsbreak Contributor Denys Shybinskiy