Stars and Stripes:
In about 90 seconds Wednesday, the Navy’s Aegis Combat System proved its value and saved the USS Mason from a missile strike.
During the attack, the ship’s defense system detected, tracked and intercepted the incoming cruise missile and destroyed it, two Pentagon officials told Stars and Stripes on the condition of anonymity.
“We actually saw an explosion,” one official said, relaying what has been reported to the Pentagon from the Mason.
The incident took place about 6 p.m. local time Wednesday off the coast of Yemen, where the Mason and the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock ship, were cruising the Bab el Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf Aden.
Since March 2015, Yemen has been controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition getting logistical assistance from the United States.
Subsequently, the strait had seen several strikes during the last two weeks.
On Oct. 1, a HSV-2 Swift, a catamaran-like fast moving littoral ship owned by the United States and leased by the United Arab Emirates, was badly damaged by a cruise missile fired from Yemen…
