US to deploy fighter jets, Navy destroyer to UAE after missile attacks

The US is sending advanced F-22 fighter aircraft and a Navy destroyer to the United Arab Emirates in response to a string of missile and drone attacks on the Gulf country by Yemeni rebels backed by Iran.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the deployment of the guided missile destroyer USS Cole and fifth-generation fighter jets following requests for support by top Emirati officials in recent weeks.

The announcement came after Austin spoke on the phone with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan yesterday. 

The Emirates have been targeted three times by ballistic missile and drone attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels since Jan. 17. The first attack killed three people near Abu Dhabi, while the latter two were successfully parried by Emirati and US missile defenses.

US officials have said Al Dhafra Airbase, which houses some 2,000 American troops and an Air Force expeditionary wing, is believed to have been targeted in the latter two attacks. On both occasions, the incoming missiles caused US personnel to seek shelter and Patriot air defense batteries to fire.

The Houthis have vowed to continue targeting the UAE, which along with Saudi Arabia backs Yemeni pro-government forces who have made recent battlefield gains against the rebels.

The USS Cole will conduct joint exercises with the Emirati Navy before making a port call in Abu Dhabi, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed today. Meanwhile, US fighter aircraft will “assist the UAE against the current threat,” the Defense Department said in a statement released last night. 

While the Pentagon isn’t ruling out additional deployments, the move appears to signal a more focused US response to missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed groups in the region in recent years.

Kirby told to reporters today that the move will not affect the nearest aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Harry S. Truman, which is operating under NATO command for the first time in the Mediterranean amid tensions with Russia.

The deployment also poses a potential test for the Biden administration, which has committed to end US support for offensive strikes in Yemen’s civil war. 

Press secretary Kirby declined to specify whether American fighter pilots headed to the UAE may be tasked with targeting Houthi projectiles already in the air or launch sites on the ground inside Yemen.

“I’m certainly not going to get into specific ROE [rules of engagement] or operations,” Kirby told reporters during a briefing today.

“It’s not just the Emiratis. It’s our people there at Al Dhafra, too, so we’re going to do what we need to do to protect our troops and our partners,” he said.

The US already provides defensive support, including early-warning intelligence on Houthi missile launches, to the Emirates and to Saudi Arabia.

Later on Wednesday, the UAE’s defense ministry released a statement saying three armed drones were shot down after penetrating the country’s airspace at dawn.

The statement was issued just hours after supposedly Iraq-based group calling itself “the Righteous Promise Brigade” said it launched four drones at “vital sites” in Abu Dhabi. 

The same supposed group claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the royal palace in Riyadh nearly one year ago.