Finally, we witnessed the beginning of the battle against the US aircraft carriers.
Over the years, there has been countless discussions about how to strike at US aircraft carriers, and this battle will be the first time that a real US aircraft carrier battle group has been hit since the end of World War II. Yemen's Houthis have set their sights on US aircraft carriers, and they have decided to strike at the most powerful part of the US fleet.
According to the U.S. Society for Naval Studies News Network, Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in a saturation raid in the Red Sea.
At that time, the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and Aegis-class destroyers entered the Red Sea and were responsible for monitoring the relevant waters and providing escort for a large number of cargo ships.
In order to strike aircraft carriers, it is necessary to attack from multiple directions and from multiple angles. Sea-skimming flights and waterline attacks are the Houthis' specialty.
A waterline attack can cause maximum damage, while a high-speed penetration anti-ship missile can further increase the difficulty of anti-missile interception in the final stage of the trajectory. The Houthi strategy is to attack the superstructure, radar and other equipment on the aircraft carrier, so that the US military is incapacitated and ready for subsequent attacks.
This Houthi attack used three types of **. The first is 12 suicide drones, which are mainly used to attract anti-aircraft fire from US Aegis-class destroyers.
Although the Aegis-class destroyer is capable of intercepting dozens of targets, it has a limited number of fire control channels due to the fact that semi-active guided anti-aircraft missiles require continuous tracking and locking on to targets by radar. Each irradiation radar can illuminate up to 2 targets at the same time, while the Aegis ship only has a total of 3 illumination radars, and can only illuminate up to 6 targets at the same time.
Therefore, the purpose of the Houthi launch of 12 drones is to occupy the fire channel of the Aegis ships at once, so as to prepare for a real attack on the US aircraft carrier.
The second wave of the Houthi attack was three anti-ship ballistic missiles that hit the US aircraft carrier at high altitude and high speed.
At the same time that the US radar discovered the incoming ballistic missiles, the Houthis launched a third wave of attacks, firing two anti-ship cruise missiles and rushing towards the US aircraft carrier at an ultra-low altitude in the form of a sea-skimming flight. Through this wave of high-altitude and low-altitude speed attacks, the Houthis have put some pressure on the US aircraft carriers.
At its narrowest point, the Red Sea is just over 30 kilometers, and launching a missile so close to the body is like stabbing a knife with a dagger.
The surprise attack of multiple missiles made the US F-18 fighters have to carry out a frenzied interception.
Shooting down these missiles is a huge challenge for the F-18, as they are generally subsonic, while medium-range air-to-air missiles and combat air-to-air missiles are not much of a problem. However, the number of missiles fired by the Houthis this time is still relatively small.
If dozens of missiles are launched at once to break through the interception of the US military, it will be very difficult, since the interceptor missile formations need to solve the difficult problem of fire target allocation. The fire control system of the entire formation will lock on to a few missiles in front, and others may slip through.
The F-35** fighter has certain advantages in this regard, and it is good at online cooperative operations and large-scale firepower distribution. Compared to heads-up capabilities, the F-35 is better suited for group combat.
The military mainly uses the F-35 to quickly take off, search for and intercept Quds-3 cruise missiles launched by the Houthis. Whether on land or at sea, fighter planes have always been the core weapon of attack.
A navy with an aircraft carrier will carry out a dimensionality reduction strike against a navy without an aircraft carrier. In this battle, the US destroyers were mainly Aegis ships, which were used for air defense and anti-missile missions, and their main role was to protect aircraft carriers, while the attack relied entirely on fighters.
To effectively strike at the US Navy's aircraft carriers in the Red Sea, in addition to anti-ship missiles, the Houthis must also have medium- and long-range anti-aircraft missiles to limit the activities of US carriers. In general, this round of missile raids by the Houthis is impressive.
Although he did not succeed in hitting the US military **, he managed to demonstrate his determination. However, it is impossible to ignore some of the shortcomings, such as the lack of ultra-low-altitude supersonic anti-ship missiles, and the attack speed is not fast enough.
In addition, the number of missile launches by the Houthis is still low, giving the US military enough time to intercept them.
In addition, the Houthis also lack medium- and long-range anti-aircraft missiles, which can effectively limit and threaten the US aircraft that take off for combat.
The U.S. Navy has an advantage in terms of concentration of forces and mobility, and can flexibly select targets and evacuate the battle. If an ordinary surface fleet wants to fight a ** battle with the US nuclear aircraft carrier, it is almost asking for a dead end.
However, in the Red Sea, where escort operations are conducted, the US aircraft carrier battle group has entered the offshore zone. At this time, Yemen's Houthis can use shore-based anti-ship missiles to strike at them, which is undoubtedly a rare favorable opportunity in decades.