The Iran-backed Houthis are relentlessly counter-attacking US ships in the Red Sea, after relaunching their naval blockade of the waterway, in protest against Israel’s renewed war in Gaza.
In the latest round of violence, following waves of US air strikes, the group claimed to have launched 18 anti-ship ballistic missiles at the USS Harry S Truman carrier strike group, saying they fended off an American attack.
The missiles barrel down from the thin atmosphere near space at colossal speeds. The group often claims to have hit US ships, including multibillion-dollar aircraft carriers, in attacks that are often accompanied by drone and cruise missiles at low level to place maximum stress on air defences.
Many of the low-level attacks are intercepted long before they reach US ships, as shown in the video below where a US plane uses an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II rocket to hit a Houthi drone.
US ships keep operating and deny successful strikes, although on one occasion the USS Gravely warship had to deploy a Phalanx weapon system to stop a low-flying cruise missile.
The gun tracks missiles at close range before blasting them with 4,500 explosive shells a minute. That means the Houthis certainly got close, perhaps seconds, from a catastrophic hit on a US vessel.
Warships armed with Phalanx can also use the gun to stop surface ships, in the event the Houthis tried to use an unmanned explosive drone boat to attack.
For an aircraft carrier such as the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, which was being guarded by the Gravely at the time of the Phalanx interception, there are often five warships providing protection, bristling with a range of air defence systems to target missiles at much longer ranges than the Phalanx.
The Houthis have, however, hit many civilian ships. But why is hitting the US Navy – and allied European military vessels – proving so hard for the group?
The Houthi kill chain
It comes down to what experts call the “kill chain”. This is, according to the US Navy, the process of “finding, fixing, targeting, tracking, engaging and assessing” the enemy over a long range.
The Houthis have been able to do this through assistance from Iranian spy ships, including the Behshad, and commercially available shipping data (the latter quite haphazardly, involving attacks on Russian ships). But there is currently no Iranian “spy ship” in the Red Sea.
For warships, there are complicating factors in homing in on targets, the first challenge in the kill chain being “finding”.
To understand how complex this is, the US recently used high-altitude balloons floating 15km over the Mariana Islands in the Pacific as sensors to complete a kill chain in a live-fire exercise to hit a moving decommissioned ship hundreds of kilometres away.
An unspecified drone, reportedly with “extreme endurance”, also took part in the exercise. The idea was that when a missile is fired over such long distances, data can be relayed to the missile in flight as the target moves. This is far harder than hitting a static site.
While the Houthis have numerous drones, as noted at the start of the article, they are vulnerable to being shot down by US aircraft. At sea, they lack a key advantage of drones, which is flying low through valleys, masking themselves from radar.
While exact locations of US vessels are not disclosed, there have been various reports that US aircraft carriers tend to operate in the northern part of the Red Sea.
This would be logical, because aircraft carriers like the USS Harry S Truman, with nearly 6,000 crew and air personnel on board and 90 aircraft, need heavy defending, with a ring of supporting warships, from long-range Houthi cruise missiles.
That immediately puts the carrier at the maximum range of the Houthis' Tankil anti-ship ballistic missile, assuming the group's claim to target the ship is accurate.
The Tankil, thought to be based on Iran's Raad-500, can supposedly reach Mach 8, or eight times the speed of sound.
If Iran's claims are correct, it would reach the Harry S Truman in about three minutes at maximum range, although the top speed is likely in midcourse, or fastest part of its flight, and the average speed will be much slower.
If the carrier was alerted to the missile launch – perhaps by US infrared early-warning satellites, which are used in this role – its AW4 nuclear reactors would propel the 100,000-tonne vessel at 55kph for 2.75km at the time the missile was plunging to the target area.
The Tankil however, would not (if working correctly) plunge passively into the sea, but has an on-board seeker, either radar or infrared (heat-seeking). This means that the Truman, or ships around it, could easily deploy electronic warfare to jam the seeker and send it even further off course.
It is not surprising, then, that both civilian ships and naval vessels in the Red Sea have reported Houthi missiles landing several kilometres from their ships.
Electronic warfare and other countermeasures, such as flares and “chaff”, that confuse missile seekers, have been used to stop Houthi low-flying cruise missile attacks. Anti-ship cruise missiles, unlike the ballistic anti-ship missiles, can also be shot down by jets.
A swarm of Houthi drones, likely to be detected long before they neared US ships by powerful airborne radar, were downed in this way.
To get an idea of how many missiles might be needed to destroy a US warship, Chinese estimates cited by Rusi, a UK defence think tank, say six cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile would be needed.
The Rusi analysis, however, notes that the calculation does not consider US countermeasures, such as electronic warfare, so the total for the Houthis could be higher – perhaps more than the 18 allegedly fired in one salvo.
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
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Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
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SPECS
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
