It has cost around $1 billion to counter the missiles and drones fired by Iran and the Tehran-backed Houthis in the Middle East, the United States Navy’s leading civilian official told lawmakers on Tuesday.
“We have actually countered over 130 direct attacks on US Navy ships and merchant ships,” Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing for the upcoming fiscal year.
Over the past six months, the sea service has fired nearly $1 billion in air defense missiles to counter aerial threats from Iran and its proxy forces. The disclosure underscores the depth—not to mention the rising financial cost—of the U.S. Navy’s involvement in the Middle East.
Read the rest of the story at The National Interest, here.
