According to the Pentagon, a US Navy destroyer cruising in the Red Sea shot down an Iranian-made drone that was launched from Yemen on Nov. 29.
The USS Carney, an Arleigh-Burke Class guided missile destroyer, shot down the Iranian-made KAS-04 drone at 11 a.m. It was approaching the Navy warship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden near the Arabian Sea, according to a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM).
The Red Sea is an important commerce route for shipping and moving energy supplies.
The "unmanned aerial vehicle," or drone, was launched from a part of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have recently waded into the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, claiming earlier this month to have launched ballistic missiles and one-way drones at Israel.
“Although its intentions are not known, the [drone] was heading toward the ship,” CENTCOM said.
The USS Carney was escorting a Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship and another vessel carrying military equipment and crew to the region when the drone approached, officials said.
“At the time of the shoot-down, the USS Carney was escorting the USNS SUPPLY (Oiler) and another U.S. flagged and crewed ship carrying military equipment to the region,” they added.
There were no injuries to US troops or damage to US boats recorded as a result of the event.
The event on Wednesday is the second time in recent weeks that US officials have shot down a drone in the Middle East that is suspected to have been fired by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
The USS Thomas Hudner, a Navy destroyer, intercepted multiple one-way attack drones fired at the ship when it was in the Red Sea exactly one week ago. The drones were fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, according to the US military.
Officials reported in October that the USS Carney knocked down numerous enemy drones and cruise missiles fired from the shores of Western Yemen into Israel by the Houthis.
“This action was a demonstration of the integrated air and missile defense architecture that we have built in the Middle East and that we are prepared to utilize whenever necessary to protect our partners and our interests in this important region. There were no casualties to U.S. forces and none that we know of to any civilians on the ground,” Pentagon press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the time of that incident.
Washington accused Tehran of flying a drone within 1,500 yards of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier when it was conducting flight operations in international waters in the Arabian Gulf the day before Wednesday's incident.
Navy authorities stated in a statement that the Iranian unmanned aircraft made "unsafe and unprofessional actions" near the ship, and that "multiple hails and warnings were ignored by Iran."
“The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) was conducting routine flight operations in the international waters of the Central Arabian Gulf when it detected an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV was visually identified as Iranian. Its closest point of approach to IKE was approximately 1,500 yards,” U.S. Naval Forces Central Command head Vice Adm. Brad Cooper.
The drone had "violated safety precautions" by failing to keep more than 10 nautical miles away from the vessel, according to top officials.
There were no reported casualties, and no aircraft were damaged in the event.
The US is on high alert for activities by Iran-backed organizations and has attempted to strengthen its military posture in the Middle East in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which threatens to destabilize the area as a whole.
Washington has dispatched enormous naval strength to the Middle East in the last month alone, including two aircraft carriers, support ships, and hundreds of US Marines.
