The attacks by the Houthis rebels on maritime transport of the Red Sea and the US warships led to problems with the ammunition supplies of the US Navy, an American advertising in the congress.
On Wednesday, in a hearing of the Credit Committee of the Chamber, the acting head of the Naval Operations, Admiral James Kilby, said that attacks by the militant group had “underlined the pressure on our industrial ammunition”, according to the soldier Times.
He added: “Long-range ammunition guided by precision like Tomahawk, a long-range anti-ship missile, the heavyweight torpedo, all these ammunition that we need to increase production.”
Kilby also supported the obtaining of ammunition from a larger source of suppliers.
“They may not be able to produce the same exact specifications, but they could be able to produce a missile that is effective, which is more effective than the missile,” he said.
In recent years, Houthi activists in Yemen have targeted international navigation paths in the Red Sea, and naval ships protected them, in solidarity with Hamas in his war with Israel.
According to the Crisis group, an American reflection group, until January 2025, the group supported by Iran had launched around 500 attacks against ships in the Red Sea, as well as targets in Israel.
Houthis have used low -cost missiles and drones to launch attacks.
But despite the low cost nature of weapons, the US military was forced to deploy expensive missiles and other ammunition to thwart attacks at the cost of billions of dollars.
The United States has also launched hundreds of air strikes on Houthi positions, President Donald Trump ordering campaign intensification when he took office in January.
The retired naval commander, Bryan Clark, of the Hudson Institute, told Task and purposes in March that the US Navy had used more air defense ammunition in clashes with Houthi since October 2023 than in all other conflicts since the 1990s.
He suggested that the clashes with the Houthis are coming to concerns with regard to future conflicts.
“I think most of the estimates are in a few days of fighting, if there was an invasion of Taiwan, that the United States – the Navy in particular – would lack weapons,” said Clark, referring to Chinese threats against Taiwan, an American ally.
During the Congress hearing, the legislators examined the naval budget in 2026, with munition production gaps and naval construction delays between the questions discussed.
The republican representative Tom Cole de l’oclahoma, president of the Chamber’s credit committee, would have warned the possibility that the United States lacked ammunition in a war and the need to find ammunition replacements.
“We have to do what we can to accelerate this process, because we are all very, very worried,” he said.
Last week, Trump announced a ceasefire with the Houthis, in the midst of the information that the American attacks had had a limited impact and that the ammunition supplies decreased.
businessinsider