The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the Red Sea, has shot down multiple missiles and drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, weapons that the Pentagon says were "heading along the Red Sea, potentially toward targets in Israel."
Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder on Thursday told reporters at the Pentagon that the ship intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones over water.
"This action was a demonstration of the integrated air and missile defense architecture that we have built in the Middle East and that we are prepared to utilize, whenever necessary, to protect our partners and our interests in this important region," Ryder said.
There were no casualties, according to Ryder. The ship did not appear to be the target of the attack, according to preliminary U.S. assessments.
The missiles from Yemen come a day after the al-Tanf garrison, which hosts U.S. forces in Syria, was targeted by two drones.
U.S. and coalition forces destroyed one drone, while the other drone reached the base and resulted in minor injuries to coalition forces, according to Ryder.
U.S. forces in northern Iraq shot down another drone Tuesday near Bashur Air Base, resulting in no injuries or damage to coalition equipment or facilities. Two drones targeted al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq on Tuesday; one was shot down while the other was damaged, resulting in minor injuries to coalition forces.
"Any response, should one occur, will come at a time in a manner of our choosing," Ryder said.
The drone and missile attacks follow an increase of U.S. military presence in the region after Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 assault on Israel that left 1,400 Israelis dead. At least 3,000 Palestinians have died since Israel began targeting Hamas forces in Gaza after the attack.
The U.S. has said the increased presence is intended to deter malign actors such as Hezbollah or Iran from expanding the conflict.
Dakota Wood, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told VOA, "Given the stakes that are involved and what Hamas or Iran or Hezbollah might be trying to achieve in the region, it could be that they don't care what the U.S. sends in. If they can draw the United States into war, maybe that helps their cause."
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike group is headed across the Atlantic to join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which is operating in the eastern Mediterranean.
Three ships with the USS Bataan amphibious ready group are positioning thousands of Marines in waters near Israel.
A squadron of A-10 attack aircraft has arrived in the Middle East, with another A-10 squadron's deployment extended. More F-15 and F-16 fighter jets also are rolling into the region.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin placed more than 2,000 military personnel on heightened alert with a prepare-to-deploy order. The Pentagon told VOA on Tuesday that, should the president activate the units, it will further boost the U.S. military's air defenses; medical and logistical capabilities; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance abilities in the Middle East.
Ryder said Thursday the Pentagon has now identified the units that have been tapped with the prepare-to-deploy order, but he declined to go into specifics unless "those units are actually tasked to deploy."
