Acting Navy chief has regrets about using expensive missiles to bomb Houthis

Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby has expressed concerns about America’s unsustainable approach to taking out the Houthis.

The problem with the current approach, Kilby said while speaking this week at the Sea Air Space Conference, is that America is using missiles worth millions of dollars to destroy Houthi drones worth as little as $2,000.

“I had not been thoughtful enough to think about the UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] threat, where I think a much lesser-powered weapon would have done what we needed it to do,” he said, as reported by Fox News.

He went on to bemoan the fact that America evidently doesn’t have “better ways to more economically attrit the threat” posed by the Houthis.

President Trump shared aerial footage of a strike on a Houthi group preparing an imminent attack, now reduced to a crater and scorched earth.

“Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis! They will never sink our ships again!”

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/TTDyQSGsfK

— AF Post (@AFpost) April 4, 2025

Kilby promised, however, that under his leadership, the Navy is working tediously to overhaul its defense network with “much more cost-effective” technologies, though he stressed that he needs the defense industry to produce munitions more quickly.

“We have to get after our industrial base or munitions industrial base the same way we have to get after our shipbuilding industrial base,” he said.

Asked whether the Navy currently boasts enough munitions to deal with the Houthis, Kilby indicated that they do not.

“I think we need more munitions,” he said. “We certainly need more depth of magazine, if we’re going to get into a protracted conflict.”

During his time at the conference, Kilby also discussed efforts to modernize the Navy and make it more ready and lethal.

“One of our goals — one of our seven targets — is this hybrid fleet [with] robotic and autonomous systems,” he explained, as reported by DefenseScoop.

“The challenge for us is to really robustly lay out a roadmap to get there. We’ve had some fits and starts there, so we must do better. Our initial focus is 2027, though, [for a] capability that will help us in the Pacific,” he added.

Last year, his predecessor unveiled a list of seven “targets” to modernize the Navy and better prepare it for a potential war with China. One of the goals involves integrating uncrewed, automated drones and ships with crewed, non-automated ships.

“The MQ-25 is the first unmanned aircraft to integrate with the air wing,” Kilby continued. “Beyond that, once we do that, I’m looking at sensors, I’m looking at electronic attack, possibly a loyal wingman concept — but I also have to have unmanned surface [capabilities] helping me in that fight, as well.”

Continuing his remarks, Kilby noted that U.S. forces and their impressive array of technology are in high demand across the globe.

“Kilby pointed to the Nimitz and Vinson Carrier Strike Groups, which are conducting deterrence and other operations in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft and a guided missile destroyer supporting Northern Command on the Trump administration’s new U.S.-Mexico border missions,” DefenseScoop notes.

“Over the past 18 months, our sailors in the Red Sea have successfully countered hundreds of Houthi missiles and [unmanned aerial vehicles],” he said. “We have had over 20 ships that have operated in the Central Command area of responsibility for this, and today, the incredible sailors of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group are there carrying on that effort.”

Another tactic the Navy is pursuing to modernize itself involves a secret project known as Project Overmatch. It has something to do with the way folks communicate between themselves out at sea.

“The classic example of Overmatch is I want to be able to communicate across every single modality I have at sea, based on prioritization of message,” Kilby said. “Comms-as-a-service and software-defined radios are a piece of that as well. So, that effort continues.”

“This ability to communicate in a more effective manner at sea makes me more lethal, where I’m not having to wait for a certain prioritization of messages to go out — the system just understands the quickest means to do that and sends that message,” he added.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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