On the USS EISENHOWER, more than 25 aircraft took off to conduct joint U.S.-British attacks on Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. The forces included Navy F/A-18 fighter jets, E/A18 Growler radar jammers, E2 Hawkeye reconnaissance planes, as well as helicopters and tankers. These strikes were aimed at addressing the attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants. The crew members of the USS Eisenhower and USS Mason demonstrated high-speed decision-making, intercepting and shooting down incoming missiles fired by the Houthis. With NBC News as the sole news organization embedded with the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea, adrenaline and morale were both high among the crew members despite the threat of incoming drones or ballistic missiles from the Houthis. The U.S. Central Command confirmed that strikes against 36 Houthi targets at 13 locations in Yemen had been carried out by U.S. and U.K. forces. These targets included multiple underground storage facilities, command and control centers, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters. It was reported that Houthi militants have targeted around 30 cargo ships navigating the Red Sea since November 19, impacting global shipping and potentially leading to consumer price increases in the U.S. Houthi leaders, however, dismissed the U.S. and U.K. strikes and vowed to continue their attacks in the Red Sea until Israel ends its military operations in Gaza. U.S. officials declined to comment on the effectiveness of Saturday’s strikes in Yemen, stating only that they were separate from the reprisal airstrikes conducted by U.S. aircraft on Friday in Iraq and Syria after attacks on a U.S. outpost in Jordan. Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh affirmed the U.S.’s commitment to degrading Houthi forces and safeguarding shipping in the Red Sea, with concerns raised by experts in the region about the unlikeliness of completely destroying the ballistic missiles and drones supplied to Houthi forces by Iran. They warned that U.S. forces are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with the Houthis as the conflict continues.
