Direct proof of use
The U.S. Navy documents USS Carney (DDG 64) firing a Standard Missile-2 on October 19, 2023, to defeat Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea. The same Navy account says Carney shot down 15 drones and four land-attack cruise missiles during a 10-hour engagement that began while the destroyer was operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
USNI News reported on the day of the incident that an early incident assessment said Carney fired Standard Missile-2s over the Red Sea against land-attack missiles and drones launched from western Yemen. Raytheon's SM-2 product page separately states that the U.S. Navy confirmed SM-2 firings in the Red Sea in early 2024 against anti-ship missiles and drones tied to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping.
Sources: USS Carney a Destroyer at War, USNI Carney SM-2 Incident Report, SM-2 Missile
Timeline
The first documented SM-2 use in this conflict occurred on October 19, 2023, when USS Carney fired the missile during the opening Red Sea engagement against Houthi missiles and UAVs. Public manufacturer and Navy-facing material later described additional U.S. Navy SM-2 use in early 2024 for Red Sea defense against anti-ship missiles and drones.
Sources: USS Carney a Destroyer at War, USNI Carney SM-2 Incident Report, SM-2 Missile
Narrative
In the Red Sea Crisis, the SM-2 appears as a shipboard defensive interceptor rather than a strike weapon. The U.S. side used it from Aegis surface combatants to engage missiles and UAVs launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen, protecting naval forces, regional partners, and maritime traffic in the Red Sea.
The Navy describes SM-2 as a medium-to-long-range shipboard surface-to-air missile, launched from the Mark 41 vertical launcher system aboard Aegis cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. That service context matches the documented Red Sea use by USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.
Sources: Standard Missile, USS Carney a Destroyer at War, SM-2 Missile
