The commander of a European Union naval mission in the Red Sea wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi militia based in Yemen, as just four warships are patrolling an area twice the size of the 27-nation bloc.
The EU mission — dubbed Aspides, from the Greek for “shield” — has escorted 68 ships and repelled 11 attacks since it was established less than two months ago.
It only defends civilian vessels and does not take part in any military strikes.
The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.
“Just a single transit of one of our ships between the two larger distances to the area might take about 10 days, and also to cross the high-risk area takes almost two days,”Greek navy Rear Admiral Vasilios Gryparis, the commander of the mission, told reporters in Brussels on Monday.
He said the high-risk zone “has seen multiple attacks in the past months” ranging from threats and intimidation to “complex attacks” using “shore, air and sea-based assets, drones and ballistic missiles.”No one has been hurt.
Nineteen of the 27 EU nations are involved in the mission but only four frigates are patrolling.
Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen’s north and west, launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
Their campaign has continued despite more than two months of US-led retaliatory airstrikes.
The EU mission also remains “very vigilant” for any spike in attacks following last week’s airstrike, widely blamed on Israel, which destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals, Gryparis said. Top Iranian officials have promised to retaliate.
“We call on Iran to show restraint and to use its influence to avoid escalation, and in particular, with relation to the Houthis,”EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, but he added:“I don’t think Iran has full control [of] the Houthi decision-making. They have become quite autonomous.”
Ships and aircraft deployed to the U.S. Central Command region have been shooting down Houthi drones and missiles that threaten commercial vessels on a near daily basis.
CENTCOM has also conducted strikes against Houthi military facilities in Yemen to try to preclude the Houthis from launching missiles or drones.
To support such efforts, four to eight U.S. and allied navy ships are patrolling the Red Sea at any given time, the Pentagon says.
U.S. officials have not spelled out how the U.S. coordinates and deconflicts its operations with Operation Aspides, but note that the American military has lots of experience working with allies and partners.
The German frigate Hessen, which mistakenly fired on a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper on Feb. 27. Bundeswehr/Jule Peltzer
“As I understand it, they do coordinate and communicate on a daily basis,”
---- Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters on Feb. 29.
On Feb. 28, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius acknowledged there was a “situation in which a drone was shot at but missed.”
“Attempts to make contact were unsuccessful, the frigate then, consistent with the rules of engagement, then engaged,”Pistorius said. “But a successful strike did not ultimately occur.”
Pistorius did not say that the drone that was targeted was a U.S. aircraft.
A German Bundeswehr Joint Forces Operations Command spokesman told Air & Space Forces Magazine they would “not provide any further operational detail.”
But U.S. officials confirmed that an American MQ-9 was fired upon and added that CENTCOM was working on ways to prevent friendly fire incidents in the future.
“CENTCOM is in close coordination with the E.U. and Operation Aspides to investigate the circumstances that led to this event and to ensure safe deconfliction of airspace,” a U.S. defense official said. “Operation Prosperity Guardian and Operation Aspides continue to operate alongside each other as we continue our mission to ensure freedom of navigation.”
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EU launches mission Aspides to protect Red Sea vessels from Houthi attacks
The European Union on Monday formally launched a bespoke naval mission to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Mission ‘Aspides’ - Greek for shield - will aim to preserve freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a region plagued with instability since October when Houthi rebels began targeting vessels navigating the waterway with a barrage of drone and rocket attacks. The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group that controls a part of Yemen, say their attacks are in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza that has so far claimed the lives of some 29,000 Palestinians.
With 12% of global trade and as much as 30% of global container traffic passing through the vital waterway, their strikes have threatened to severely disrupt trade flows into Europe.
France, Germany, Italy and Belgium have so far confirmed they plan to contribute ships to the EU mission.
Greece will provide a commander for its operational headquarters,
Italy will provide the force commander, and
France the deputy force commander.
The bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell described the mission as "bold action to protect the commercial and security interests of the EU and the international community." "Beyond crisis response, it's a step towards a stronger European presence at sea to protect our European interests,"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media platform X.
A senior EU diplomat said that Apsides has an exclusively "protective" mandate and will "only act when there is a threat, with minimum force." He added that the mission will have at least four frigates and will be fully operational in a "few weeks’ time." The operation headquarters will be located in Larissa, Greece, and will work hand in hand with "like-minded partners" already present in the region.
Speaking on Monday afternoon following the announcement, Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Romania as well as Albania, a candidate for EU membership, had expressed interest in joining the mission.
Tajani claimed Italy was advocating for non-EU and non-NATO countries to have the opportunity to join the mission.
EU nations had been reluctant to back Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG), the US-led naval mission launched in December, for fears the bloc would be contributing to an escalation in the conflict that has gripped the Middle East.
OPG originally enlisted the support of six EU member states, three of which then distanced themselves from the mission.
The US and the UK have since led retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets on Yemeni territory, but the European bloc has distanced itself from such military action.
"We will not be offensively neutralising a threat on land," a second senior EU diplomat said.
"The rules of operation are strictly self-defence."
Some EU member states, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, had contributed to the US and UK-led military action on land in Yemen, supporting greater EU engagement in the region to protect European security and interests.
Other member states, notably Spain, had favoured a more defensive posture and vetoed plans to repurpose the EU’s Atalanta anti-piracy mission to the region.
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