Despite receiving challenging situations from the Trump administration and the U.S. military, the Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to be overconfident. In a recent audacious statement by Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea, the rebels boasted about an attack on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
Needless to say, the attack fizzled.
A senior defense official disclosed that U.S. warships intercepted approximately twelve drones launched by the Houthi rebels long before they could pose any threat. This revelation came shortly after the rebels claimed they had carried out an attack.
Following President Donald Trump’s authorization for airstrikes in Yemen on Saturday night, American F-16 and F-18 fighter jets have successfully taken down 11 drones deployed by the terrorist group. This swift action by the U.S. military demonstrates their commitment to neutralizing threats posed by the Houthi rebels.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drones did not come close to the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which has played a key role in the latest military action.
Tracking also showed at least one Houthi missile failed in flight and splashed down in the waters off Yemen.
The US military took no action because it was not deemed a threat, the official said.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea delivered a message on March 16, 2025 saying they’ve launched an offensive against the USS Harry S. Truman using ‘missiles and drones.’🤬 pic.twitter.com/ffzmEUcYjN
— Sumner (@renmusb1) March 16, 2025
It was not deemed a threat, that is, by anyone besides the Houthis. Their spokesman tried to spin it:
The Iran-backed terror group said, without offering evidence, that they attacked the Truman and its warships with ballistic missiles and drones in response to US attacks.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Sunday: ‘The armed forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out a qualitative military operation targeting the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships in the northern Red Sea, using 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in a joint operation carried out by the missile force, Drone Air Force and the naval forces.’
The US Navy’s reply was, essentially, “I’m sorry, who did you say you were again?”
The really entertaining thing about this is that the Navy scarcely even noticed the attack. One missile failed in flight; the drones didn’t come anywhere near the carrier. Air Force and Navy fighters have been engaging these drones in what appears to be a 21st-century re-enactment of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, with the main difference being that in 1944, the Japanese Imperial Navy had ships and actual aircraft.
The Houthis seem to have two goals in this operation: To set an entirely new definition of the term “asymmetrical warfare” and to exceed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq for impotent threats and other gaseous emissions from the group’s leaders.