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- The US military is sending another warship to guard the southern border with Mexico.
- The destroyer USS Spruance, which fought the Houthis in the Red Sea, will operate off the West Coast.
- It’s the latest military asset to be deployed as part of Trump’s border security efforts.
A second US Navy destroyer that spent months battling the Houthis in the Red Sea is being sent to the southern border to support military operations there.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance left its home port of San Diego on Saturday to support efforts to “restore territorial integrity” at the southern border, US Northern Command said in a statement.
NORTHCOM said that the deployment would contribute to the Pentagon’s crackdown on maritime-related criminal activity, including weapons smuggling and illegal immigration. The Trump administration has made combating these issues and drug trafficking a priority and has dispatched a range of military assets to the US-Mexico border.
Last weekend, the Navy sent USS Gravely, another guided-missile destroyer, to the southern border. Air Force Lt. Gen Alexus Grynkewich, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters Monday that the warship will be “involved in the interdiction mission for any of the drugs and whatnot that are heading in.”
The Spruance, like the Gravely, will be accompanied by a US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment, operators that specialize in military operations at sea, such as counter-piracy, counter-terrorism, anti-immigration, and combat missions.
Destroyers like the Spruance bring a lot of firepower to a fight. They are equipped with 96 vertical launch system (VLS) cells carrying surface-to-air and land-attack missiles, as well as various guns, from the 5-inch deck gun to the Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) to machine guns. The ships also feature electronic warfare capabilities.
It’s not entirely unusual for these warships to partake in drug interdiction missions, especially since maritime smuggling efforts can be rather sophisticated.
Gen. Gregory Guillot, the NORTHCOM commander, said that the Spruance’s deployment as part of the southern border mission “brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security.”
“With Spruance off the West Coast and USS Gravely in the Gulf of America, our maritime presence contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the Presidential Executive Order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border,” Guillot added.
The Spruance and Gravely are being deployed for a mission very different from the Red Sea conflict in which both vessels fought.
On their previous deployments, the Spruance and Gravely spent months shooting down missiles and drones launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen as part of their ongoing attacks on military and civilian vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Navy has rotated carrier strike groups in and out of the Red Sea repeatedly as part of its efforts to stop the Houthi attacks. Last weekend, the US began a fresh campaign against the rebels and has been hitting them with airstrikes for several days.
