A ROYAL Navy warship has shot down a ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the first time.
HMS Diamond unleashed its devastating Sea Viper system to blast the missile out of the sky, Grant Shapps told The Times.
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It was the first time in more than three decades that British warships had engaged an enemy missile in anger.
The Type 45 air defence destroyer was protecting a merchant vessel attacked in the Red Sea on Wednesday.
The vessel has shot down several drones including seven in one night in January.
But it was the first time a Royal Navy warship has shot down a ballistic missile since 1991, during the first Gulf War.
Shapps said: “A commercial ship came under attack by a ballistic missile and HMS Diamond shot down that missile using Sea Viper.”
Each Sea Viper missile costs over £1million.
Shapps said the attack proved how dangerous the world had become.
He said rebel groups like the Houthis were bristling with “very sophisticated weapons” from sponsors such as Iran.
He claimed the incident proved that Rishi Sunak was right to ramp up spending on defence to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.
Shapps added: “That gives an indication of a changed world and why the 2.5 per cent is so vital.”
HMS Diamond deployed to the Red Sea alongside a US carrier group to protect merchant shipping and Israel from Iran-backed attacks.
It can track hundreds of objects the size of a tennis ball from hundreds of miles away with its iconic Samson radar.
Houthi rebels are armed with Iran’s Fateh missiles which can reach over 400 miles.
The Houthis boasted yesterday that they had targeted the Maersk Yorktown ship and an American warship destroyer in the Gulf of Aden.
HMS Diamond fired Sea Viper missiles and its close in Phalanx machine guns to shoot down several drones before rotating with frigate HMS Richmond.
The smaller UK warship shot down a pair of drones using its smaller Sea Ceptor missiles.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, which they say are in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
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