A U.S. Navy captain said the Red Sea conflict was a “knife fight in a telephone booth.” China will be more challenging.

• The conflict between the United States and Houthis gave the US Navy the smell of high-temperature air defense operations.

• The Navy is using conflict to inform future maritime wars, such as conflict with China.

• A battle in the Pacific will be very different from the Battle of the Red Sea, a military fleet captain said.

The U.S. Navy and Iran-backed Houthis have a clearer view of the huge gunfight between U.S. military planners on the complexity of high-temperature air defense operations.

Now in the second month of the ceasefire, the Red Sea conflict has put heavy pressure on the Navy, emphasizing warship crews and drainage critical ammunition. Although the fight has been a challenge, leaders in the service believe it is just a taste of war against China in the future, a more complex missile than the Yemeni rebels.

It's not just missiles. Instead, it is a series of factors that make China more difficult to confront, but the Navy is learning key lessons from the Red Sea, which may apply to future battles.

“In many ways, Red Sea – it’s a knife fight in a phone booth,” CDR. Thomas Hudner commander Cameron Ingram told the Arleigh Burke-Class business insiders on the destroyer during a recent on-going English channel.

“The geographical location is very close, and it will be very, very challenging to operate in the geographical location close to China's controlled territory,” he said.

“That would be a longer-distance struggle,” Ingram said. “In addition, their remote surveillance and tracking are much higher. Their intelligence community is much higher. So there are still more complexity and challenges that will make fighting in China very difficult.”

Since October 2023, Hushis has launched hundreds of missiles and drones and drones on the coast of Yemen, especially on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Naval warships and aircraft operating in the region have shot down many Houthi weapons, from drones to anti-fleet missiles, in defense of self-defense and defense of Israel and merchant ships. Thomas Hudner is one of the American ships, confirmed to kill.

These interceptions, sometimes using millions of dollars of missiles to shoot down thousands of dollars in drones, have made U.S. stocks tense and raised concerns about the preparations for potential future armed conflict. As far as China is concerned, it is described as a “rhythm threat” to the United States, and the navy's air defense capabilities are the top priority. The potential conflict between the two may be mainly unfolding at sea.

China has a powerful anti-ship weapon, including ballistic and cruise missiles, which are more capable than those used by Husses, which makes the Navy necessary to have enough intercepting missiles. However, it has already spent hundreds of people fighting the rebels.

Ingram said the Chinese war would be challenging and complex for the Navy due to Beijing's advanced weapons, long-range surveillance and tracking, and intelligence operations.

“It has to fight on different levels,” he explained, adding that it will see longer distances than the Navy's experience in the Red Sea.

Lessons learned

The Navy learned a lot about air defense from the Red Sea conflict and tested it with unprecedented participation in dangerous threats, such as anti-Fleet ballistic missiles.

Ingram highly praised the AEGIS combat system, which uses computers and radar to help warships track and intercept targets. He said it may work better than most of us would expect in terms of success rates. ”

The Red Sea Conflict also informed the Navy of its magazine capabilities, reloading capabilities and ammunition stocks. Maritime Services has changed its firing policy and reconsidered the number of ordnance warships that should consume threats.

A big focus area is trying to reduce the cost ratio of air defense missions. Intercepting a $20,000 drone with a $20,000 standard missile is not on the right side of the curve, but Ingram believes it is worth protecting a $2 billion warship and the lives of hundreds of people. But the challenge is sustainability.

The United States and its NATO allies have proven in the Red Sea that they can use cheaper air defense alternatives to destroy the Houthi threat. For example, American fighters use guided rockets. Ingram said the Navy is working to make the cost difference between threats and interceptors “nearly equal.”

Ingram added that the focus increased the five-inch deck guns of warships, which had a much deeper magazine capacity than the conduits fired by destroyers and was once a viable means of air defense in the Red Sea.

“If I could stay longer by shooting five-inch rounds, especially in drones, maybe I should do that and save my high-capacity weapon system for greater threats,” he said.

Raising is another consideration. U.S. warships had to go to friendly ports with the necessary supplies to obtain more missiles, which took precious time and extended the ships for a long time. This may be the main problem with the high-festival Pacific conflict. However, the Navy is seeking to close the gap by its reload.

Ingram calls the battle in the Red Sea an exciting air defense success story that could impact China's calculus and military planning. On the family side, the conflict has made the Navy more confident in its weapon systems and accelerated the development of its tactics, technology and procedures.

Ingram said it was hard to predict what the future looks like, “but I think that based on the past 18+ Red Seas, there are a lot of things that everyone has to think about.”

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