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Could the Houthis Hit a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier with a Missile?

Aircraft Carrier Sinking
Aircraft Carrier Sinking. Image is from a Brazilian aircraft carrier being scuttled at sea.

Key Points and Summary: The US Navy’s success in countering Houthi drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea demonstrates the effectiveness of advanced technology, layered defenses, and rigorous training.

-Rear Adm. Javon Hakimsadeh attributes this record to multi-domain networking and joint command structures, enabling air, surface, and space sensors to detect and neutralize threats.

-EA-18G Growlers have intercepted missiles with AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, while interceptors and electronic warfare systems provide robust ship defenses.

-While no defense is perfect, the Navy’s modern doctrine and well-trained crews ensure that standard Houthi missiles and drones remain ineffective against US warships.

Can Houthi Missiles Hit US Warships? The U.S. Navy Says No

The United States Navy’s record of tracking and intercepting Houthi drone and cruise missile attacks in the Red Sea is exemplary, and service commanders explain the consistent success relates to effective training, doctrine, and weapons systems. 

Given this record, one might wonder if, indeed, there is any chance a Houthi missile could succeed in “hitting” a US Navy warship.

Houthi attacks succeeded in hitting a few commercial vessels. Yet, US Navy vessels consistently defeated a high volume of Houthi attacks using a key mixture of surface, air, and space sensors networked with warship command and control. 

Hit an Aircraft Carrier? 

Could a Houthi missile have actually hit an aircraft carrier?

It seems one should never say never when it comes to combat scenarios, given that famous phrase that “no war plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

However, the answer is likely no unless the Iranian-backed Houthis acquire an entirely new generation of sensing, guidance, command and control, and pure attack speed. Houthi weapons would be unlikely to achieve a hit. 

The reasons for this were explained to Warrior Maven by the Commanding Officer of Carrier Strike Group 2 in the Red Sea, Rear. Adm. Javon Hakimsadeh. 

“Doctrine is what allows us to set up within the Red Sea to be able to put in place command and control measures, airspace control measures or battle management areas or restricted operating zones to be able to manage the complexity of a multi -domain fight without spending a whole lot of time sorting things out,” Hakimsadeh, affectionately known as “Hak,” told Warrior in 2024. 

Successful Doctrine vs. Houthis

“Hak” further explained that interceptors were used for quite some time because air, surface, and space sensors and tracking technologies successfully targeted incoming Houthi attacks.

One key tactic he explained is that the US Navy learned that Houthi drones and cruise missiles could be seen and destroyed from the air by fighter jets in position to detect or “see” missiles from “beyond the radar horizon.”

On one occasion, an EA-18G Growler electronic warfare (EW) aircraft succeeded in destroying Houthi attacks with an AIM-9X air-to-air missile. 

Simply put, the current condition of US Navy sensors, layered ship defenses, interceptors, and command and control have matured to a point where standard, medium-to-low-tech cruise missiles and drones can be tracked, jammed, intercepted or otherwise destroyed.

Weapons alone, however, cannot make this happen, according to “Hak.” He was clear that sailor training and performance, combined with the exercise of refined and modern doctrinal approaches and well-executed concepts of operation, were the foundation of effective maritime combat. 

Hak explained the multi-domain, multi-node cooperative networking was critical to the success of these efforts, involving concepts of command and control connecting an Air Force Air Operations Center and Regional Air Operations Center. 

Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier

Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier

This kind of synergy helped streamline targeting, as inbound Houthi missiles and drone threats were successfully intercepted from the air on multiple occasions, Hak explained, adding “we were able to establish standard command and control measures.”

“So doctrine is a thing that allows us to work outside our strike group. It allows us to work with our joint partners, say, in the Air Force or the Army. In this particular case, in the Red Sea example, doctrine is what allowed us to go into a theater of operations, if you will, the Red Sea, that has been largely for the past three decades or so has been a pass -through force,” Hak explained to Warrior last year. 

“And then it’ll allow us to kind of structure multiple fights at the same time in multiple areas. A real shortcut that, you know, we train to all the time and, you know, likely again, saves a lot of heartache when you’re being shot at, if that makes sense.”

U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier

210624-N-BR419-1091 INDIAN OCEAN (June 24, 2021) The U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), steams in the Indian Ocean. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, as well as the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Oswald Felix Jr.)

About the Author: Kris Osborn 

Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

Written By

Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19 FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven - Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Errol Snow

    January 17, 2025 at 6:30 am

    Why don’t the Amicans get the coordinates where all the Houthi armour is launched from and obliterate the area.

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