Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi rebel-controlled Yemen toward a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, after the US Navy responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker that had been seized by armed individuals, the US military said Sunday.
The tanker, identified as the Central Park, had been carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid when its crew called for help that “they were under attack from an unknown entity,” the US Central Command said in a statement.
The USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, and allied ships from a counter-piracy task force that operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia responded to the call for help and “demanded release of the vessel” upon arrival, Central Command said.
“Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat,” said the statement posted on social media platform X.
Balistic missles are not an ideal antiship weapon.
the high angle of attack reduces opportunity for intercept by all but the most advanced and expensive systems. it may seem counterintuitive, but we’re not dealing with 1960s ballistic missiles, we can now guide during terminal descent.
So these boston whaler based terrorists have precision guidance and a seeker of some sort? How do they target?
From the description though it seems like these ballistic missiles were about as technologically advanced as a firework.
yeah I have no doubt iran /whomever has a long long way to go in their development, just don’t want to see all ballistics derided because they change the intercept game mightily.
(Good) Terminal guidance really puts a limit on the speed though, which kind of negates the main advantage of using a ballistic missile (speed).
Even a good ballistic missile will be open for interception longer than say a low observability sea skimmer like LARASM.