attacks on ships by the Houthis

[paul.mercer]

Gentlemen,
I'm not sure where to put this question, but with the attacks on merchant and naval ships with drones by the Houthis in the red sea, is there a reason why allied naval ships do not make the merchant ships form a convoy so they can all protect it with their combined firepower.
Also, a hypothetical question bearing in mind that most naval ships use missiles instead of guns, but would the type of anti aircraft gun using proximity fuzes used in WW2 be effective against the drones?

[Byron Angel]

I take your point, Paul. But USN frigates, etc, don’t seem to carry very many guns nowadays, especially in terms of dealing with swarm attacks by drones. I suspect that we are witnessing a generational change in the nature of the aerial threat that is going to require a deep re-think about air defense at sea.

I don’t profess to be an expert on this topic … just offering a street-corner opinion.

B

[OpanaPointer]

No Navy could patrol the area constantly. For a somewhat slanted picture of the problems I suggest "Captain Phillips", starring Tom Hanks as the eponymous skipper. That's the situation in broad strokes. The USN should have papers on the problem on the Naval History and Heritage Command website.