News - Yemen: Months after the end of direct hostilities, the US Navy is still analyzing the lessons learned from its maritime confrontation with Yemen.

According to American reports, Yemeni forces effectively ended the “golden era” of aircraft carriers and forced the US Navy to consider retiring its current Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. A retired US naval officer told The Wall Street Journal that the encounters exposed major weaknesses in America’s naval defense systems against modern threats.

The officer explained that US warships struggled to adapt to the evolving nature of maritime warfare—particularly the Yemeni attacks in the Red Sea, which revealed the limited interception capabilities of American vessels against new-generation weaponry.

These challenges have pushed Washington to explore alternative strategies and fleet concepts.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump is personally advocating for the creation of new classes of warships under a program dubbed the “Golden Fleet.”

According to the paper, Trump has held multiple meetings with naval leaders and is directly involved in discussions about the program, which aims to replace the current mix of warships with a more advanced fleet capable of confronting China and other emerging threats.

Officials quoted by the Journal said the so-called “Golden Fleet” would include large ships armed with long-range missiles and smaller corvettes, alongside a next-generation heavy armored ship weighing between 15,000 and 20,000 tons and equipped with hypersonic weapons.

However, experts remain divided on the feasibility of the plan—some warn that construction would take years and may not be completed within Trump’s potential term, while others insist that rebuilding the fleet is now a strategic necessity.

US Navy Secretary John Phelan reportedly stated that Trump views the rebuilding of the “Rusting Iron Fleet” as a national imperative.

Meanwhile, retired naval officer Brian Clark said the Navy aims to field 280 to 300 manned vessels, supported by a significant number of unmanned ships to bridge operational gaps.

Retired Admiral Mark Montgomery added that rethinking the entire structure of the US fleet is essential, arguing that reliance on large surface ships is no longer viable given the changing nature of modern threats.

Yemen’s naval operations in the Red Sea have exposed critical weaknesses in the US Navy’s traditional fleet structure, prompting Washington to reconsider its maritime strategy. Over the past two years, Yemeni forces have disrupted Israel-linked routes and demonstrated the effectiveness of low-cost asymmetric warfare against advanced Western warships.

The confrontations revealed the declining readiness of US naval assets, particularly aging destroyers such as the Arleigh Burke class, and forced American planners to explore new designs under the so-called “Golden Fleet Project.”

Analysts say the Red Sea conflict marked a strategic turning point, showing that modern naval superiority now depends more on adaptability and innovation than on size or firepower.