Direct proof of use
The Standard Missile-6 was used by U.S. Navy surface forces in the 2023 Red Sea Crisis. Stars and Stripes reported Vice Adm. Brendan McLane's January 2025 account that the Navy had fired 80 SM-6 missiles, along with SM-2, ESSM, SM-3, and five-inch gun rounds, while defeating Houthi drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles over 15 months of Red Sea operations.
Public reporting also identifies specific SM-6 ballistic-missile engagements. The War Zone reported that a U.S. defense official said USS Carney fired an SM-6 against a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden on January 30, 2024. A CENTCOM-region feature on USS Laboon reported that the destroyer used SM-6 on December 26, 2023 to defeat a ballistic missile during the Red Sea fighting.
Sources: Stars and Stripes Red Sea Missile Tally, TWZ SM-6 Combat Use Report, CENTCOM Citadel Laboon Red Sea Feature
Timeline
On December 26, 2023, CENTCOM said USS Laboon and F/A-18 Super Hornets from the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group shot down 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land-attack cruise missiles fired by the Houthis over about 10 hours in the southern Red Sea. The later CENTCOM Citadel feature identifies Laboon's December 26 ballistic-missile defeat as an SM-6 engagement.
On January 30, 2024, USS Carney shot down a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden and later engaged three unmanned aerial vehicles. CENTCOM publicly reported the missile and UAV engagement without naming the interceptor; The War Zone, citing a U.S. defense official, identified the ballistic-missile shot as an SM-6 launch from Carney. By January 2025, McLane's public tally described SM-6 use as part of a broader Navy expenditure of air-defense munitions in the Red Sea campaign.
Sources: USNI December 26 Red Sea Engagement, CENTCOM Citadel Laboon Red Sea Feature, Fox News Carney Engagement, TWZ SM-6 Combat Use Report, Stars and Stripes Red Sea Missile Tally
Operational role
In this conflict, SM-6 served as a ship-launched air and missile defense interceptor for U.S. Navy surface combatants. The documented targets were Houthi-launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones threatening U.S. warships, merchant vessels, or the surrounding maritime area in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The public record supports U.S. Navy use but does not provide a full shot-by-shot list for every SM-6 firing. Official CENTCOM and Navy releases confirm the underlying Houthi missile and drone engagements by ships such as Carney and Laboon, while the missile-type attribution comes from defense reporting and the later Navy missile-expenditure tally.
Sources: U.S. Navy Carney Return Release, USNI December 26 Red Sea Engagement, CENTCOM Carney January 26 Release, Fox News Carney Engagement, Stars and Stripes Red Sea Missile Tally
