Watch as Brit warship HMS Richmond blasts two Houthi drones with Sea Ceptor missiles after ‘large scale’ rebel attack
BRITISH warship HMS Richmond last night destroyed two attack Houthi drones with powerful Sea Ceptor missiles.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced the successful response to yet another attack by the rebels.
Fifteen drones fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were shot down by the US and its allies this morning, according to authorities.
US Central Command said it had responded to a "large-scale" attack involving unmanned aerial vehicles that presented "an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US navy and coalition ships in the region".
It added that its navy ships and aircraft, along with "multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft", shot down 15 drones.
British warship HMS Richmond shot down two of the attack drones, according to Britain's defence secretary.
Mr Shapps said this afternoon: "Last night, HMS Richmond used its Sea Ceptor missiles to shoot down two attack drones - successfully repelling yet another illegal attack by the Iranian backed Houthis.
"The UK and our allies will continue to take the action necessary to save lives and protect freedom of navigation."
The US combatant command said the Houthi attack was conducted between 4am and 6.30am Sanaa time, or 1am and 3.30am UK time.
Houthi rebels today claimed to have launched one of their largest attacks on US shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
They said they sent 37 drones to attack US navy war ships and a commercial ship, the Singapore-flagged Propel Fortune, and called their mission a success - but provided no evidence.
Danish frigate Iver Huitfeldt also helped in repelling the attacks, shooting down four Houthi drones in the Red Sea on Friday night.
The commander on the Iver Huitfeldt, Capt Sune Lund, said: "At a little after 4am local time we recognised a drone which was heading towards Iver Huitfeldt and the surrounding ships.
"After making sure it was an enemy, we engaged and defeated it. Over the next hour this happened three more times," The Guardian reports.