OK, shoot, but do it quietly
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Navy's Fight in Red Sea Used 220 Missiles, But Officials Say That's Changing
As the Biden administration nears its final days, military and government officials are starting to speak more openly about the scope of the fighting that has occurred against Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, the evolving tactics of the last 15 months, and the issues with U.S. production that will need to be addressed by the incoming Trump administration.
Speaking at a Navy conference in Arlington, Virginia, the commander of the service's surface forces, Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, told a crowd of mostly Navy officers who gathered for a panel on the lessons of the Red Sea conflict that Navy ships fired 220 missiles and 160 5-inch shells over the course of 380 separate engagements.
Those figures -- a rare moment of transparency from the Navy -- suggest that the service has been relying on missiles to deal with the threat of drones and other missiles from the Houthis. Yet a top U.S. official and Navy officers say that this is no longer the case.
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