The Defeat of U.S. Aircraft Carriers Marks the End of Washington’s Deterrence

: Yemeni Analyst

​​​​​​​According to Taghrib News Agency(TNA), Brigadier General Mujib Shamsan, a Yemeni military and strategic analyst, said in an interview with Al-Masirah TV that the scale of the U.S. aircraft carrier’s defeats in the Red Sea was so large that it could not be concealed, forcing the American government to issue scattered reports about the damages.

He added that Washington’s clear contradictions are an attempt to avoid admitting the real problem: the declining effectiveness of its power tools in one of the world’s most strategic regions.

Shamsan continued that once the United States realized that Gulf oil had slipped out of its control due to the rise of Yemeni forces dominating strategic maritime routes and equipped with missiles capable of striking deep energy production zones, it began seriously seeking alternative energy sources. According to him, this explains Washington’s recent intensive efforts to re-engage with Venezuela.

He noted that the hidden damage inflicted on Washington is not measured by the number of downed aircraft or the cost of missiles, but by the collapse of America’s military prestige—especially after five U.S. aircraft carriers failed to break the blockade, protect themselves, or stop Yemeni operations. This situation has forced the U.S. military to reconsider its doctrine and focus more on lower-cost systems, including drones.
Shamsan added that disruptions in reconnaissance systems, helicopter landing cycles, and repeated changes in combat information centers reflect weaknesses in U.S. naval readiness. These vulnerabilities, he said, were known to Yemeni forces from the start of the conflict, who even succeeded in disabling a U.S. airborne command aircraft.

He continued that Yemeni forces managed to push American fighter jets from offensive roles into purely defensive missions to protect aircraft carriers—a shift that disrupted Washington’s planning and caused confusion and fatigue among crews. This was the result of Yemen’s use of a complex combination of hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.

Regarding the aircraft carrier Eisenhower, Shamsan said it faced complete collapse, and the U.S. fleet spent nearly a month searching for a replacement before eventually deploying the Truman. He added that recent U.S. officials’ remarks about “technical defects” were an attempt to conceal a larger truth: Yemen has imposed a new equation on the Red Sea, transforming the threats in this region.

Shamsan concluded by stressing that the management of this military scene was not accidental but a deliberate decision by Yemen. Its results became clear when Yemeni forces, through preemptive strikes, disrupted U.S. preparations and demonstrated Yemen’s intelligence superiority and ability to strip Washington of the element of surprise.