Attacks by Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping and US warships have led to issues with US Navy ammunition supplies, a US admiral told Congress.
In a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James Kilby said attacks by the militant group had “highlighted the strain on our munitions industrial base,” according to The Military Times.
He added: “Precision-guided, long-range munitions like Tomahawk, Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, the heavyweight torpedo, all those ammunitions we need to increase production on.”
Kilby also backed obtaining munitions from a wider source of vendors.
“They may not be able to produce the same exact specifications, but they might be able to produce a missile that’s effective, which is more effective than no missile,” he said.
In recent years, Houthi militants in Yemen have targeted international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, and the naval vessels protecting them, in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel.
According to the Crisis Group, a US think tank, up to January 2025, the Iranian-backed group had launched around 500 attacks on ships in the Red Sea, as well as targets in Israel.
The Houthis have used missiles and low-cost drones to launch attacks.
But despite the low-cost nature of the weapons, the US military has been forced to deploy expensive missiles and other munitions to foil the attacks, at a cost of billions of dollars.
The US has also launched hundreds of airstrikes on Houthi positions, with President Donald Trump ordering an intensification of the campaign when he took office in January.
Retired Navy Commander Bryan Clark, of the Hudson Institute, told Task and Purpose in March that the US Navy had used more air defense munitions in clashes with the Houthi since October 2023 than it had in all other conflicts since the 1990s.
He suggested that clashes with the Houthis point to concerns when it comes to any future conflicts.
“I think most estimates are within a few days of combat, if there was an invasion of Taiwan, that the US — the Navy in particular — would run out of weapons,” Clark said, referring to Chinese threats against Taiwan, a US ally.
In the congressional hearing, lawmakers were scrutinising the Navy’s 2026 budget, with ammunition production shortfalls and shipbuilding delays among the issues discussed.
Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, reportedly warned of the possibility of the US running out of ammo in a war, and the need to find munition replacements.
“We need to do what we can to accelerate that process, because we’re all very, very concerned,” he said.
Last week, Trump announced a cease-fire with the Houthis, amid reports that US attacks had had limited impact and ammo supplies were dwindling.
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