American Navy cruiser intercepts drone fire coming from Yemen

According to two U.S. defense sources, the guided missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner intercepted a drone fired from Yemen over the Red Sea early on Wednesday.

This drone was fired straight toward the USS Thomas Hudner, in contrast to an event that occurred last month in which an American destroyer shot down several drones and missiles fired against Israel.

The warship shooting down the drone was first reported by Reuters.

Although the identity of the drone’s operator is still unknown, the Houthis in Yemen, who have Iranian support, made a threat earlier this week to strike ships in the Red Sea.

The event comes after a US MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down over the Red Sea by the Houthis last week.

The Houthis attempted to salvage the around $30 million drone, but Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh stated it’s unlikely they could “recover anything of significance.” The U.S. did not initiate a recovery effort for the drone.

The downing of the MQ-9 and the incident with the USS Thomas Hudner pose a threat to the U.S.-contained conflict between Israel and Hamas, which could intensify.

In response to the over 60 attacks against American personnel stationed in Iraq and Syria over the course of the previous month, the United States has already initiated three rounds of retaliation strikes on Syrian factions backed by Iran.

Singh stated that she had no announcement to make in response to the question earlier this week about the Pentagon’s potential military response to the downing of the MQ-9, but that “we always reserve the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing.”