News - Yemen: A recent US report said that the US Navy fired more air defense missiles during 15 months of combat operations in the Red Sea than it did in the previous 30 years, depleting the service’s stock of ammunition and even resorting to 5-inch rifle rounds to shoot down drones.

It stressed that the US Navy would need years to replenish its supply of missiles, which puts the service in a bad position if the US and China went to war today.

The report, published by the US military website "Task and Purpose," quoted retired Navy Commander Brian Clark of the Hudson Institute as saying that the US Navy has used more air defense missiles since the start of combat operations in the Red Sea in October 2023 than it has used in all the years since Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s.

"During that 15-month period, from October 19, 2023, to January 19, 2025, the Navy saw the largest number of battles at sea since World War II," he added.

“It’s amazing how the Navy survived without casualties, but the cost was enormous,” Clark said. “It’s estimated that the Navy spent over $1 billion on interceptors to shoot down these drone, missile threats.”

“Most estimates are that within a few days of combat, if there were an invasion of Taiwan, the United States—the Navy in particular—would run out of weapons,” Clark said. “Here’s the problem: The weapons we’ve designed are hard to build for the industrial base because they’re so specialized; they have a very specialized supply chain, and they’re made by hand at low production rates.”

Yemen has declared open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have achieved significant victories against the naval forces of the US, the UK, and Israel. These operations led to the effective shutdown of the Port of Eilat, also known as Umm Rashrash, and forced the US aircraft carriers to retreat from the Red Sea. The Yemeni forces also sank or damaged dozens of Israeli-linked ships.

These achievements have surprised many observers, as Yemen was not previously regarded as a significant naval power. The Yemeni Armed Forces have vowed to continue their operations as long as the Israeli regime maintains its war and siege against Palestinian territories.