News - Yemen: Strategic military expert Colonel Mujeeb Shamsan stated that what occurred in the Red Sea was not merely a series of limited-impact attacks, but a strategic transformation striking at two historical pillars of Western maritime dominance: control over sea lanes and maintaining superiority for the Zionist enemy.

According to Shamsan, this confrontation has redefined maritime deterrence and the concept of power in an environment where “cheap and smart” can outperform “expensive and complex.”

In an interview with Almasirah TV on Tuesday, Colonel Shamsan emphasized that the US vision, based on Mahan’s theory that “whoever controls the seas controls the world,” had made the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab a strategic choke point for dominance, aligning Washington’s interests with those of the Zionist enemy in turning this passage into a secure space to impose their will.

He added that the second pillar involved guaranteeing permanent superiority for the Zionist entity, yet Yemeni actions targeted both pillars simultaneously by choking ships linked to the enemy and challenging the strongest naval fleets in these vital waters.

Shamsan noted that the image of the aircraft carrier as a symbol of absolute deterrence suffered a major operational and psychological blow when it faced low-cost, high-efficiency weapons such as drones and missiles—threats that carriers and their accompanying systems were not designed to neutralize under simultaneous, multi-distance attacks.

He explained that these drones possess advantages such as relative radar stealth, flexibility in flight paths, and the ability to disperse defenses in successive waves, which disrupts the sensor–decision–engagement loop of heavy naval vessels and forces them to expend costly firepower against inexpensive targets.

Shamsan highlighted that using interception systems like SM-2, SM-3, and SM-6 places the US Navy in a severe financial drain, as millions of dollars are spent on intercepting drones worth only a few thousand dollars. This imbalance has sparked internal discussions between Congress and the Department of Defense regarding the viability of maintaining an expensive missile defense doctrine against low-cost, disruptive threats.

He added that although laser systems have been proposed as a cheaper alternative per shot, these technologies have not yet reached operational readiness to fill the gap revealed by this confrontation.

Shamsan cited a series of incidents and pressures experienced by aircraft carrier groups Eisenhower, Truman, and Abraham Lincoln in the Red Sea extending into the Arabian Sea, where encounters with officers and escort destroyers revealed a compound threat the defenses were unprepared for in scale and type.

He believes this shift was not only material, in terms of damage or interceptions, but also psychological and doctrinal. The aircraft carrier is no longer an automatic tool of imposition, nor is naval presence synonymous with political control as it was once perceived.

Shamsan stressed that the Zionist enemy’s vision of the Red Sea as a “closed lake” has been heavily challenged. Movement restrictions and continuous threats have increased transit risks and altered deterrence calculations. Even without completely closing the passage, simply raising transit costs, increasing insurance risks, and signaling selective targeting potential is enough to turn the Red Sea from a geostrategic asset into a strategic vulnerability.

According to Shamsan, the Yemeni experience forces the United States to shift from high-cost fire-based defenses to layered systems that mix cheap and fast means—such as guided guns, lasers or microwave weapons when operationally ready, jamming systems, nets, and interceptor drones—while continuing missile interception, along with redistributing sensor platforms and expanding warning bubbles beyond saturation range.

He added, “Washington’s boldness in sending carriers into chokepoints without decoy systems, deception, and friendly drone swarms to protect combat formations may decline, affecting response speed and the cost of any power projection.”

Shamsan explained that Yemeni operations have practically transformed the maritime scene by imposing a reversed deterrence equation, making major adversaries calculate the cost of daily presence in vital passages, turning the Red Sea from a mere international shipping lane into a theater of denial even against the strongest fleets. The widespread adoption of low-cost, high-efficiency weapons encourages others to replicate the model, pressuring traditional global deterrence structures.

On economic and geopolitical impacts, he noted, “Without citing exact figures, forcing ships to reroute, raising insurance premiums, and lengthening voyage times accumulates global costs, undermining one of the ‘cheap globalization’ advantages that relied on safe, low-risk passages.”

Regionally, Western powers’ ability to dictate maritime operations is waning, while land, air, and cyber pressure tools are advancing as partial compensations.

Shamsan emphasized that the Red Sea Battle was not a mere skirmish but a severe test that redefined the value and effectiveness of naval power in the age of drones and precision missiles. Dominance, he said, is no longer measured solely by the number of carriers and destroyers, but by the ability of heavy systems to withstand economic and tactical pressure from a flexible, low-cost adversary—a test that has forced Washington, London, and the occupied city of Jaffa (Tel Aviv) to undertake doctrinal reassessments that will affect fleet design and risk calculations for years to come.

Since late 2023, Yemen’s Armed Forces have dramatically escalated their military operations in response to the Israeli enemy's war on Gaza and the broader US.-British support for it. As part of their declared solidarity with the Palestinian people, Yemen has launched a sustained campaign targeting Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and beyond—expanding its strategy to include aerial and maritime blockades on the Israeli entity.

Yemen’s increasing use of ballistic and hypersonic missiles, along with advanced drones, has shifted the balance of power in regional waters, creating serious concern within US and Israeli defense establishments. Analysts now describe the conflict as one of the most significant maritime confrontations since World War II, with implications far beyond the Red Sea.

The reported retreat of US forces following direct threats to its carriers  represent a major strategic and symbolic victory for Yemen and a major embarrassment for Washington, particularly under the leadership of Donald Trump, whose administration had vowed to maintain dominance in the region.