The US Navy carrier strike group fighting off Houthi missiles is staying in the Red Sea for now

• The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group has spent months defending ships from Houthi attacks. 
• The strike group’s deployment has just been extended, keeping the warships in the Middle East.
• It comes as the Red Sea conflict shows no signs of slowing down.

The US Navy carrier strike group that has spent months fighting the Houthis from the Red Sea will be staying in the region for a little while longer, as the Iran-backed rebels continue attacking shipping lanes.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group — which consists of the aircraft carrier Ike, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea, and the two destroyers USS Gravely and USS Mason — recently had battling the Houthis over the previous six months. The figure has only gone up in the weeks since, with attacks and interceptions continuing on a routine basis, underscoring the growing financial cost of the American naval presence in this ongoing conflict.

In the past week alone, the Houthis have launched dozens of drones and anti-ship ballistic missiles at targets in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Some of the threats were shot down by US forces, while others landed in the water, but at least one commercial ship was struck by missiles.