US Fifth Fleet Commander Overwhelmed by Yemen’s Houthi Missiles

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The fuel tanker Marlin Luanda was hit by a Houthi missile in the Red Sea. Photo/Resistance News Network

WASHINGTON – Commander of the United States (US) Fifth Fleet, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, acknowledged how difficult the US military’s task was in stopping missiles fired by the Ansarallah Houthi armed forces targeting Israeli or American ships in the Red Sea.

According to Cooper, it takes less than 75 seconds for an Ansarallah missile from being fired to reaching its target.

This gives the US military, which is stationed in the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab strait, only about 9 to 15 seconds to make a decision regarding firing a missile or drone.

“There’s about 75 seconds between when the missile is launched and when it hits something. “Therefore, the destroyer captain has about 9 to 15 seconds to make a decision whether to shoot down the missile,” said Cooper in an interview with CBS on Monday (29/1/2024).

According to the US military commander, “No one has ever used anti-ship ballistic missiles. And of course, there are far fewer commercial shipping (unobservables) than Navy ships.”

Cooper, like other US military and political officials, accused Iran of providing Ansarallah with the intelligence it needed to target Israeli and US ships.

But he did not provide any evidence to support his claim.

Iran is part of what is known in the Middle East as the ‘Axis of Resistance’, a group of states and non-state political actors that oppose the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the US military presence throughout the region.