2023 Red Sea Crisis

C-RAM / Phalanx CIWS in the 2023 Red Sea Crisis

USS Gravely used its Phalanx Close-In Weapon System during the 2023 Red Sea Crisis to shoot down a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile fired toward the Red Sea.

Weapon profileCounter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar system / C-RAM
SideUnited States-led coalitionRoleAir DefenseForce Protection
Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar system / C-RAM, Land-based close-in weapon system, Air Defense - 2023 Red Sea Crisis
Image source: Commons PACFIRE image

Evidence Map

ClaimSources
Houthi militants fired an anti-ship cruise missile from Houthi-controlled Yemen toward the Red Sea on 30 January 2024.

Sources: CENTCOM USS Gravely Intercept

USS Gravely shot down the missile with no reported injuries or damage.

Sources: CENTCOM USS Gravely Intercept

The defensive system used in the engagement was USS Gravely's Phalanx Close-In Weapon System.

Sources: Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx

The theater role was shipboard close-in air defense and force protection for a U.S. Navy destroyer.

Sources: Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx, RTX Phalanx Weapon System

Timeline

Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar system / C-RAM In 2023 Red Sea Crisis

  1. USS Gravely shoots down a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile

    CENTCOM said USS Gravely shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen toward the Red Sea; later reporting identified the defensive system as Gravely's Phalanx CIWS.

    Sources: CENTCOM USS Gravely Intercept, Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx

  2. Phalanx CIWS identification reported

    Navy Times reported that USS Gravely used its Phalanx Close-In Weapon System after the Houthi missile came within a nautical mile of the destroyer.

    Sources: Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx

Documented Use

Direct proof of use

C-RAM's Phalanx close-in weapon lineage was used in the 2023 Red Sea Crisis by USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class U.S. Navy destroyer. U.S. Central Command said Houthi militants fired an anti-ship cruise missile from Houthi-controlled Yemen toward the Red Sea on 30 January 2024 and that USS Gravely shot it down without reported injuries or damage.

Navy Times, citing a senior defense official, identified the weapon used in that engagement as Gravely's Phalanx Close-In Weapon System. The report said the missile came within a nautical mile of the destroyer before the ship used CIWS to take it out.

Sources: CENTCOM USS Gravely Intercept, Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx

Timeline

The documented C-RAM/Phalanx use centers on the late-night 30 January 2024 engagement. CENTCOM placed the launch at approximately 11:30 p.m. Sanaa time and described the missile as an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Houthi-controlled territory toward the Red Sea.

Reporting published the next day identified the shipboard defensive system as Phalanx CIWS and characterized it as a close-in layer of ship defense rather than a long-range intercept.

Sources: CENTCOM USS Gravely Intercept, Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx

Operational role

In this conflict, the documented role was shipboard point defense and force protection for a U.S. Navy surface combatant operating in the Red Sea. The engagement separated the Houthi missile launch, which CENTCOM attributed to militants in Houthi-controlled Yemen, from the U.S. defensive intercept by USS Gravely.

RTX describes Phalanx as a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided close-in weapon system designed for ship self-defense and notes that it defeated a Houthi-launched anti-ship cruise missile in January 2024 aboard USS Gravely. For the cataloged C-RAM entry, the Red Sea case is therefore treated as combat use of the Phalanx-derived close-in defense family rather than as land-based LPWS employment.

Sources: CENTCOM USS Gravely Intercept, Navy Times USS Gravely Phalanx, RTX Phalanx Weapon System

Related Weapons by Role

20mm Mk 15 Phalanx, Shipboard close-in weapon system, Naval SystemsNaval Systems20mm Mk 15 PhalanxShipboard close-in weapon systemThe 20mm Mk 15 Phalanx is a U.S.-origin shipboard close-in weapon system built around an M61A1 Gatling gun, self-contained search and track radar, and automated fire-control functions. Navy and manufacturer sources describe it as the U.S. Navy's inner-layer defense against anti-ship missiles, aircraft, unmanned aircraft, and small surface threats; direct combat-use evidence includes USS Jarrett's Gulf War Phalanx firing during the Iraqi Silkworm engagement near USS Missouri and USS Gravely's Red Sea interception of a Houthi anti-ship missile.
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile, Ship-launched surface-to-air missile, MunitionsMunitionsRIM-116 Rolling Airframe MissileShip-launched surface-to-air missileThe RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is a U.S.-German ship self-defense missile used with the MK 31 RAM guided missile weapon system and SeaRAM launchers. U.S. Navy and Raytheon sources describe it as a lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget weapon for close defense against anti-ship missiles and other air or surface threats, while Red Sea reporting documents a German frigate firing a RIM-116 against Houthi drones in 2024.
M940 MPT-SD cartridge, 20 mm multi-purpose tracer self-destruct cartridge, MunitionsMunitionsM940 MPT-SD cartridge20 mm multi-purpose tracer self-destruct cartridgeThe M940 MPT-SD is a U.S. 20x102 mm multi-purpose tracer self-destruct cartridge for the land-based Phalanx / C-RAM firing chain. Northrop Grumman identifies M940-1 and M940-2 as C-RAM-fired rounds, Army ammunition material describes LPWS/C-RAM employing M940 against incoming rockets, artillery shells, and mortar rounds, and FY2027 budget material lists AC34 M940 w/MK7 Link procurement through Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics option lines.
Harpoon Coastal Defense System (HCDS), Mobile coastal anti-ship missile system, Naval SystemsNaval SystemsHarpoon Coastal Defense System (HCDS)Mobile coastal anti-ship missile systemHarpoon Coastal Defense System (HCDS) is a land-based Harpoon launch-system package built around mobile launcher transporter units, radar trucks, command-and-launch equipment, and RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II missiles. U.S. records identify Boeing as the principal contractor for Taiwan's HCDS sale, document follow-on launcher and missile-package contracts, and separately record two Harpoon coastal defense systems funded for Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion.
2 more weapons
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Sources