The Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer DDG 64 USS CARNEY shot down 3 land attack missiles as well as several drones that were launched by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen while she was on transit at the Red Sea.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed the news and stated – “This action was a demonstration of the integrated air and missile defense architecture that we built in the Middle East and that we are prepared to utilize whenever necessary to protect our partners and our interest in this important region,” he said at a news briefing. “There were no casualties to US forces and none that we know of to any civilians on the ground.”
Ryder said the Pentagon cannot say for certain at this point what the missiles and drones were targeting, but said they were launched from Yemen and were heading north along the Red Sea, “potentially toward targets in Israel.”
Berthed at Grand Harbour, Malta back to May 2002.
The incident was one of a series in recent days with US bases being targeted by drones in Syria and Iraq amid increasing tensions in the region as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. The drone attacks targeting the base in Syria resulted in “minor injuries,” Ryder said.
On Wednesday, two drones targeted the al-Tanf garrison in Syria, where US and anti-ISIS coalition forces are based, Ryder said. One drone was engaged and destroyed, and another drone impacted the base resulting in minor injuries to coalition forces, Ryder said.
That same morning, in Iraq, early warning systems indicated a possible threat approaching the Al-Asad airbase where US personnel are stationed. No attack occurred, but personnel sheltered in place and an American civilian contractor suffered a cardiac episode and died shortly thereafter, Ryder said.
Berthed at Grand Harbour, Malta back to May 2002.
Timeline image is while DD64 is entering Haifa, Israel back to August, 2018
