HMS Diamond shoots down a missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen over the Gulf of Aden using its Sea Viper missile system – the first time a Royal Navy warship has intercepted a missile in combat since 1991. (Royal Navy/Crown Copyright)

The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Daring (Type 45)-class destroyer HMS Diamond (D 34) has successfully engaged an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched by Yemen-based Ansar Allah (commonly known as Houthi) rebels targeting a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, the service confirmed on 25 April.

During the incident, which took place around 1151 h local time (Sanaa time) on 24 April, Diamond used its Sea Viper anti-air guided weapon system to shoot down the missile, the navy said. According to a US Central Command (CENTCOM) statement issued on 25 April, the missile was likely targeting the US-flagged, owned, and operated merchant vessel MV Yorktown, which has 18 US and four Greek crew members onboard.

No injuries or damage was sustained by the ship or its crew, CENTCOM said.

Diamond

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said the country needs more blue-collar workers to meet navy shipbuilding needs at yards like Newport News Shipbuilding, shown here. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

To address the shortage of workers needed to build the number of ships needed to meet US Navy (USN) fleet plans, the country should seek to bring in more legal immigrants from foreign shores, according to US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

While acknowledging the impact of Covid-related issues on USN shipbuilding schedules on 23 April during an event at the Stimson Center, Del Toro said, “The bigger problem is the lack of blue-collar workers.”

Del Toro called on US lawmakers to “increase the amount of legal immigration” and work visas for potential shipbuilding work to come into country, despite the political divisions preventing such bipartisanship.

“We need to open up the spigot on legal immigration and allow blue-collar works to come here,” he said.

He underscored the need for retraining the new workforce for shipyard trades needed to build USN ships.

The K9 SPH has a combat weight of 46.3 tonnes, a top road speed of 67 km/h, and an operational range of 360 km. (Hanwha Defense)

Vietnam's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has indicated that it is planning to procure the K9 self-propelled howitzer (SPH) – developed and produced by South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace – for the People's Army of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Vice-Minister of National Defence Hoang Xuan Chien expressed an intention to procure the K9 at the ‘11th Korea-Vietnam Defense Strategy Dialogue' held in Hanoi on 23 April, according to a press release issued by the South Korea's Ministry of National Defense (MND) one day later.

“Chien evaluated Korea's weapons systems and expressed his intention to expand defence industry co-operation, including the introduction of Korean weapon systems such as the K9 SPH [into the People's Army of Vietnam] and requested co-operation from the Korean government for this purpose,” the MND said.

In addition, the two sides agreed to strengthen co-operation in areas such as maritime security, cyber security, and logistics, the MND added.