According to information released by the U.S. ** Command, the U.S. Navy DDG101 Aegis missile destroyer USS Graveley completed a close-quarters engagement mission on January 30. At that time, an anti-ship missile of the Houthi rebels in Yemen approached the U.S. Navy at a distance of 1,500 meters, and finally the U.S. Navy used the Phalanx close-range air defense system to shoot down the incoming anti-ship missile. This is the closest an anti-ship missile fired by Yemen's Houthis to the US Navy. Although the US Navy successfully intercepted the incoming anti-ship missile, the incident exposed problems with the US Navy's Aegis combat system.
Obviously, the failure of the air defense system to detect the incoming missiles in advance led to a close interception of 1500 meters. Judging from the results announced by the US Navy, there was a certain element of fluke in the success of the Phalanx in hitting the incoming anti-ship missiles, because in actual conditions, the US Navy's Phalanx close defense system could not intercept several anti-ship missiles in a row. This is due to the fact that the Phalanx system has a limited ammunition reserve of less than 1,000 rounds, while the rate of fire of the Phalanx system is 3,000-4,500 rounds per minute.
Therefore, if Yemen's Houthis launch anti-ship missiles continuously, the US Navy's Phalanx system will not be able to intercept them continuously. Judging from the configuration of the US Navy's Aegis missile destroyer, the DDG101 Graveley missile destroyer is equipped with a variety of anti-aircraft missiles, including the Sea Sparrow, Standard 6, Standard 3 and Standard 2. However, launching a counterattack at a distance of 1500 meters is already a distance at which anti-aircraft missiles cannot be engaged, indicating that there are big problems with the Aegis combat system of the US Navy and not detecting approaching missiles in advance.
While the U.S. is not nervous and claims that the Houthi strike in Yemen has not been complicated, the incident still reminds the PLA of the importance of anti-ship missile interception. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been equipped with 0.55 million tons of large drives, which have greater tonnage and firepower than the US Navy's Aegis missile destroyers. Therefore, for the PLA, the sooner the approaching anti-ship missiles are detected, the better. The U.S. Navy's mode of operations is centered on aircraft carriers, using Aegis missile destroyers to provide air defense and missile defense capabilities.
The PLA's combat mode pays more attention to land-based defense and anti-ship capabilities, so it needs to be equipped with a large number of 10,000-ton destroyers. The Red Sea is narrow, especially near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, less than 20 kilometers away. Such a sea area is not possible for the Aegis missile destroyers of the US Navy to develop their combat capabilities. The PLA's large destroyers can move freely in such waters and have stronger anti-ship missile power. The US Navy's Aegis missile destroyer suffered losses under the imminence of Yemen's Houthi anti-ship missiles, due to the fact that its combat mode and equipment were not adapted to such sea areas.
And the PLA's large destroyers have higher survivability and combat capability in such an environment. Therefore, although the US Navy's Aegis missile destroyers face challenges in the Red Sea region, the PLA still needs to be equipped with a large number of 10,000-ton destroyers to meet its operational needs.