Thread by @PavewayIV

A few observations about Houthi attacks on the MV Maersk Hangzhou and US response. Yemeni statement (note Houthis believed Maersk Hangzhou was headed to an Israeli port, therefore legitimate target for them)
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https://twitter.com/ikiexcelsior/status/1741582065261302251

Houthis originally attacked the MV Maersk Hangzhou on Saturday evening with missile(s) as it entered the Bab al Mandeb Straits heading north. Ship reported being struck on the port bow, with no injuries or significant damage to the ship. Now one would...
/2

...think at this point that Maersk would have the ship turn around and leave the Red Sea, but it didn't. Maersk already doubled the pay of the crew (so, $2000/mo instead of $1000/mo - big deal) and figured Op. Prosperity of Israel Guardian would...
/3
scandasia.com/maersk-doubles…

...somehow guarantee the ship's safety. They also had armed guards on board. So they just kept sailing further north into the Red Sea - apparently unescorted but monitored by the Eisenhower carrier group's destroyers. At 6:30 Sunday morning, they put out...
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a distress call saying that they were under attack by four small boats trying to board them. The Houthis hadn't done this in the past without first trying to contact the ship on radio and order it away. I assume the MV Maersk Hangzhou ignored the call, so the Houthis went...
/5

out to it to visit. Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower carrier and destroyer USS Gravely were dispatched, so I'm assuming there was no direct escort/convoy. The Ike was hundreds of km off the coast of south Yemen last week and probably still there.
/6

https://twitter.com/MilitaryEye/status/1738611216346497415

So... helicopters got there within minutes, issued verbal calls(?) to the Houthis and reported being fired upon (unprovoked) by small arms and machine guns from the Houthi boats. I find this just incredible for a number of reasons.
/7

https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1741381969936834951

There would be no reason for the Navy helicopters to assume the Houthis didn't have MANPADS. That would have meant keeping a *minimum* safe distance of maybe 8-10 km from Houthi boats, which would have been well outside the range (~3-4km) of even large caliber Houthi...
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guns. So the helicopters either came stupidly close to the Houthis OR they were well outside the range of Houthi guns, in which case the Houthis wouldn't have bothered firing at them *at all*. On top of that, the HR-60 or MH-60R only have 7.62 and .50 cal machine guns, AFIK.
/9

Nothing like the Apache's 30mm cannon or Hellfire missiles - these are search and rescue or ASW helos. Someone correct me if they can be armed otherwise. So attacking the Houthi boats with the helicopter's crew-served weapons means they...
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would have to be *very* close - like within a couple of kilometers. That kind of gunfight seems pretty damn risky for a $40m helicopter and crew of maybe six each. Who the hell made *that* decision? Were the Houthis really that much of a threat? Or were they...
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all just running away back to shore at that point and targeted by the helicopters? I would believe *that* before I believe the Houthis would slug it out with small arms *in open water* against a couple of Seahawks. But then, I would have to believe Maersk wouldn't...
/12

intentionally endanger a pretty good-sized container ship and its crew to get to Israel. Maersk announced a 48-hour pause to Red Sea transit, but then what? Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles have something like 250 kg. warheads - enough to punch through a ship's hull.
/13

Now the US and UK are (reportedly) about to announce some kind of war against Yemen today (Monday). All to ensure *Israeli* shipping gets through the Red Sea safely. Note that the USS Eisenhower is NOT outside of Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile range. We're going to...
/14

risk a $5 billion carrier and crew of 2000+ (and the rest of the CSG) to bob around in the Gulf of Aden to bomb Yemen... for Israel. Seems profoundly unwise. If pushed enough, the Houthis will just turn to Saudi oil infrastructure to hurt the US. Hello, $350/bbl oil.
/end