The initiative seeks to map the sea routes used by Tehran, and stop arms shipments during their transit, which is an acknowledgment, according to the sources, that the Houthis are likely to pose a major security challenge in the foreseeable future.
A senior US defense official described the cutting-edge mission as “a renewed effort to try to better understand what those waterways look like.” The official said that the work requires significant cooperation with the US intelligence community.
A second senior defense official described the effort as “very aggressive,” saying Washington was also exploring how partner nations could expand its focus on disrupting Iranian arms smuggling to help offset the limited stockpile of U.S. drones and other surveillance tools that are key to the operation.
The official declined to identify the countries participating in those talks, but said that all governments economically affected by Houthi attacks must do more.
Successful interceptions
At least 18 maritime interdictions have been carried out since 2013, revealing weapons shipments allegedly coming from Iran, ranging from machine guns to anti-tank missiles. Additional smuggling operations have occurred across the Horn of Africa.
It is not known how much materiel was passed undetected, making it difficult for the United States to assess the effectiveness of its recent strikes, as there have been dozens dating back to January.
Limited resources
A continuing challenge facing the US military is the limited number of drones and other surveillance assets, which are in high demand by US military commanders around the world.
The Pentagon, as part of a shifting global security strategy aimed at focusing primarily on China, has in recent years reallocated some of that equipment that had been in the Middle East over two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Gen. Michael Eric Kurella, who as head of US Central Command oversees US military activity throughout the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this month that “for some time” he had shifted surveillance capabilities over Afghanistan to focus instead on the Red Sea. As well as Iraq and Syria, where US forces deployed until recently faced repeated attacks from Iranian-backed groups.
Kurilla added that the United States needs more funding as “additional capabilities.”
US officials said the Houthis shot down at least two MQ-9 Reaper drones off the coast of Yemen, once in November and again in February.
Another obstacle is the availability of highly trained personnel to carry out the risky mission of boarding ships suspected of carrying Iranian weapons to Yemen.
Although the Pentagon is ramping up interdiction efforts, the mission is not expected to include a significant allocation of additional special operations forces, officials said.
US officials noted that Marine forces deployed aboard ships have historically participated in such missions, but in the foreseeable future, none are expected to be in the region due to the continuing shortage of available amphibious ships overseen by the Navy.
The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit recently departed the Red Sea region after a long deployment and is expected to arrive home in North Carolina in the coming days.
Glimpses of the evolving mission have emerged through a number of ship boardings revealed in recent months.
Since November – shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that sparked the war in Gaza – the Pentagon has documented at least 105 attacks on commercial ships off Yemen, including about 40 over the past week.
The weapons include one-directional attack drones, missiles, ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones that can cross waves and travel underwater, officials said.
Protection efforts
- US-led efforts to protect maritime traffic have thwarted many of these attacks.
- But on March 6, an anti-ship missile fired by the Houthis hit a merchant ship, MV True Confidence, in the Gulf of Aden.
- American officials said that at least three sailors were killed and several others were injured.
- Last month, a Houthi missile attack on the US-owned cargo ship MV Rubymar caused the ship to sink.
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