Investigation: Within the Ruddy Ocean, the US has no great choices against the Houthis

There is a group called Operation Prosperity Guardian that is led by the United States Navy. They want to make sure that ships can travel safely in the Red Sea. They have asked other countries from Europe, the Middle East, Canada, and Australia to help. However, three important countries in NATO, France, Italy, and Spain, have decided not to join.

The OPG's job is to make sure that ships can travel safely. But sometimes, they need more specific instructions from the government to know exactly what to do.

There are dangerous weapons called antiship missiles and drones that are being used to attack ships. These weapons are being fired from a country called Yemen, by a group called the Houthi group. They control a big part of Yemen, including a long coastline near the Red Sea. The missiles they are using can cause damage to ships, but they are not strong enough to completely sink them.

The Houthis initially said they would attack ships owned by Israel. Then they said they would also attack ships that use ports in Israel. Eventually, they said they would even attack ships that do business with Israel. Because they have attacked some ships that didn't seem to have a strong connection to Israel, it's important to be careful and assume that any ship could be targeted.

The US and French warships have been able to stop all the missiles from causing harm. They have special missiles on their ships that are very smart and can shoot down other missiles. This shows that the new systems on the ships, which use advanced radar technology, are working well. Many other countries are also joining in and they have similar ships with these special missiles. These ships can also launch missiles to attack things on the sea or on land.

If the job of OPG was to only stop bad things from happening to ships that carry things, they could do it by having a group of ships sail together and have some strong ships protect them, just like how people used to do it a long time ago.

Imagine a group of big boats that are carrying important things, like toys and food. These boats are not very fast and they need protection. So, there are some other boats that are really fast and strong, like superheroes. These superhero boats stay close to the big boats and make sure no bad guys can hurt them. This way, the big boats can stay safe and deliver their important things to the people who need them. This system worked really well in World War II and helped many countries.

But there are some problems with using a convoy. A convoy is a group of big ships that travel together to stay safe. They can be very long, stretching for miles, so that the ships are far apart and can move around if they need to. But even with this protection, really big ships are still easy to spot and attack. The people who drive these ships are usually not trained to be in a convoy or follow military orders, so it can be difficult for them to work together in a large group.

The people protecting the ship have a limited number of missiles they can use to defend it. They have to be very careful and think about when to use the missiles, so they can continue protecting the ship for a long time. They also need to save some missiles in case there is a big attack on the ship. Once they use some missiles, they have to get more. They can do this while they are at sea, but it is faster and safer for them to get more missiles in a friendly port where the enemy can't reach them.

To go through a specific area near Yemen, ships need to travel a certain distance at a certain speed. This area is not very safe because there are missiles and drones that can attack the ships. It would take at least 16 hours for the ships to go through this area, and during that time, they could be attacked by the missiles and drones.

The Houthi group has a lot of missiles and they are able to attack from different places at the same time, which is making people who plan for the navy very concerned.

Other countries like France, Italy, and Spain are being cautious and sending their ships to the area to protect their own ships. They don't want to get involved in the conflict and are putting the responsibility on the United States.