A warship has shot down an Iranian-made drone launched from Houthi territory while it was escorting a US-flag cargo vessel.
The incident adds to tensions in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and beyond as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to threaten shipping.
US Central Command said on X that the USS Carney, a guided missile destroyer, shot down the unmanned aerial vehicle while it was in the southern Red Sea at 11am local time (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.
The Bahrain-based regional command for US armed forces identified the aircraft as a KAS-04 drone. Also known as Samads, such drones can be used for reconnaissance but can carry explosive payloads,
“Although its intentions are not known, the UAV was heading toward the warship,” Central Command said.
The USS Carney was escorting two ships at the time.
One was an unidentified US-flag ship carrying military cargo, which appears to be a reference to a merchant vessel. The vessel has not been identified.
The other was the 39,100-gt USNS Supply (built 1994), a fast combat support ship controlled by the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command.
The ship, which operates a refuelling oiler and carries other supplies, is crewed by a mix of uniformed sailors and civilian merchant mariners.
There were no injuries to personnel or damage to ships in the incident, Central Command said.
This is the latest in a series of incidents in the waters of the Red Sea that started with the brazen hijacking by Houthis of Ray Car Carriers’ 5,100-ceu Galaxy Leader (built 2022). The militants have threatened Israeli-linked shipping because of the war in Gaza.
Drone attacks had already featured in the equation.
Eastern Pacific Shipping-owned, 15,300-teu container ship CMA CGM Symi (built 2022) was hit by a suspected Iranian-made kamikaze drone in the Indian Ocean last Friday.
