Navy Carrier Commander Describes ‘First Combat Use’ Of New Weapons Against Houthis in Red Sea – Kris Osborn

This article was first published on Warrior Maven, a Military Content Group member website.   The Commander of the Navy’s USS Eisenhower’s Carrier Strike Group 2 said maritime warfare operations against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea involved a “first-time” combat use of upgraded variants of several key weapons systems.

“I witnessed strikes from both crewed and uncrewed aircraft, observed warships defending against air and surface threats, and watched two rescues of civilian mariners from merchant ships struck by Houthi missiles,”  Rear Admiral Kavon ‘Hak’ Hakimzadeh, Commanding officer of Carrier Strike Group 2, wrote in an interesting essay reflecting on his combat experience published in the Center for Maritime Strategy. 

Hakimzadeh writes that the combat deployment, which included the destruction and successful interception of Houthi-fired cruise missiles, high-diver ballistic missiles, drones and anti-ship missiles using deck-launched interceptors, carrier-launched F/A-18s and a host of cutting edge air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. https://youtu.be/w2hkvJuTFGQ

The Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 2, a combat group consisting of the IKE’s Carrier Air Wing 3 and four warships, protected international military and commercial traffic in the Red Sea for more than seven months; the group included several US Navy cruisers and destroyers, including the USS Philippine Sea, USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason, and USS Carney.

When the USS Laboon returned home to Norfolk Naval Base, Hakimzadeh told Warrior in an interview that the weapons functioned successfully and as intended due to focused training, war preparations and the implementation of US Navy maritime warfare doctrine.

“Our training works and our doctrine works. The CNO says it all the time…. our  people are the secret weapon. They reacted the way they were supposed to and the weapons systems responded the way they were supposed to. We knew everything was going to work but we got real world experience – its a starting point to move on to the next level,”  Hakimzadeh told Warrior at the USS Laboon homecoming.

The combat “firsts” in the Red Sea with Hakimzadeh’s Carrier Strike Group were extensive, he writes, including a first air-to-air engagement by an EA-18G Growler, first combat employment of upgraded weapons such as the AGM-154C JSOW glide bomb, AGM 114K Hellfire and AGM-88E AARGM anti-radiation missile designed to destroy enemy air defenses.  Hakimzadeh’s essay also described new tactics and concepts of operation, such as the first “surface-to-air engagement of a hostile unmanned aerial vehicle by a US warship.”

Modernized Weapons First Used in Combat