U.S. Navy destroyers and cruisers needing to leave the ongoing battle against Iran-backed Houthi rebel missile and drone barrages in the Red Sea to reload their Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) missile cells are causing a presence gap and “a real challenge,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said Wednesday (Jan 2025) at the annual Surface Navy Association conference. That challenge extends not only to the Red Sea campaign, he said, but especially to a future war with China across the vast West Pacific expanse as well, The War Zone reports.
