“There’s a lot of high-fives when you shoot something down with a gun, kind of World War II-style.”

Since Hamas waged its October 7, 2023, massacre against Israel, Iran’s regional proxy groups have ramped up attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman. The Yemen-based Houthi rebels, already known to launch barrages targeting international vessels in these strategic waterways, have incessantly attacked Israeli and American assets since the war began over a year ago. While the militant group has claimed that it is targeting ships in an effort to aid Hamas’ war against Israel, it often strikes vessels with no clear links to Israel, interrupting a critical route for global trade. The U.S. Navy’s fleets of F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets typically represent the first line of defense in thwarting these rebel-launched missiles. However, sailors aboard USS Stockdale (DDG-106) used their destroyer’s five-inch mounted gun to take down a Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle at the tail end of 2024.

What happened?

As described by Vice Adm. Brad Cooper at an event co-hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute, a low-flying Houthi-launched drone was detected late by the watchstander. When a kill order was given to the sailors, they were successfully able to strike down the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with five-inch guns, a feat that Cooper reportedly did not think would be successful. “It was an exciting moment,” Cooper said. “There was a lot going on. But it just gives, to me, it just gives you a sense of this crew is really dialed in and paying attention.” Once this drone was taken care of, the Houthis were quick to fire an anti-ship cruise missile that was ultimately shot down by fighter jets from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier. Obviously, any enemy UAV shot down is a win for the Navy, but as Cooper notes “there’s a lot of high-fives when you shoot something down with a gun, kind of World War II-style.”

The Arleigh-Burke Destroyers are quite formidable

USS Stockdale represents one of the Navy’s Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers. Named to honor World War II legend Admiral Arleigh Burke, these warships remain the cornerstone of the service’s surface combatant fleet with seventy-three vessels (out of a total of seventy-five destroyers). These destroyers feature a smaller cross-section than their predecessors, which makes them more challenging for enemy warships to detect. The Arleigh Burke-class ships were also equipped with a Collective Protection System which enables them to function in conditions contaminated by radiological, chemical, or biological materials. In terms of a sensor system, a slightly downgraded variant of the Aegis Combat System was incorporated into the ships, enabling them to launch, track, and evade missiles at the same time.

Armament-wise, the Arleigh-Burke destroyers can pack a punch. These warships are equipped with fifty-six Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles and a combination of land-attack missiles, anti-ship missiles, and a Tercom-aided navigation system. These missiles are launched from a pair of Lockheed Martin MK41 vertical launch systems. Notably, these DDGs also feature the 5-inch Mark 45 lightweight naval artillery gun, which proved to be proficient in striking down modern UAVs in 2024.

About the Author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.

Image: DoD photo by U.S. Navy, Public Domain

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