Warfare and Technology | The 5th Domain

Five deployed Navy  destroyers operating in the Red Sea have shot down 14 anti- ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), 7 cruise missiles, and more than 70 drones - a total of more than  91 targets, including the first real-world ASBM kills.  This information comes from a U.S. Navy report from January 2025.  U.S. Navy ships have "...fired nearly 400 individual munitions...battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels. That includes the firing of 120 SM-2 Standard Surface-to-Air missiles, 80 SM-6 missiles, a combined 20 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) and SM-3 missiles and finally 160 rounds from F ive-inch main guns." RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile:  SM-6 The SM-6 missile which undertook 9 years of development before seeing it transition to active-service, uses the airframe of the former SM-2ER Block IV (RIM-156A) missile.  The SM-6 uses the same airframe as the former SM-2ER but with an active radar homing seeker rather than using p...