US Navy brags in game-day video a destroyer is 22-0 against the missiles and other threats Iran-backed rebels are throwing around

• Army may have beaten Navy on Saturday, but the maritime service bragged one of its warships is 22-0 against another challenge.
• USS Carney, deployed to the Middle East, has been forced to engage threats from Houthi rebels.

The US Naval Academy's football team didn't get a win on Saturday, but thousands of miles away, there's one American warship that's on an impressive hot streak.

USS Carney is undefeated — by a margin of 22-0 — against the missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer deployed to Middle Eastern waters in October, according to a video shared to social media by the US Navy during Saturday's Army-Navy football game, which saw the Black Knights defeat the Midshipmen 17-11.

The video features a brief message from Cmdr. Jeremy Robertson, the Carney's commanding officer, who asks if the Midshipmen are ready to "get in the fight." It then includes footage of multiple missiles launched from the Carney during separate engagements, although it's not clear when, exactly, they took place. The video ends with text that says the destroyer is "22-0," and a collection of crew members shouting: "Go Navy, beat Army."

The Navy published the 30-second video to X, formally known as Twitter, after the game finished, although it aired on CBS at some point during the broadcast, per Stars and Stripes.

Over the last two months, Houthi militants in Yemen have regularly launched missiles and drones around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, forcing US Navy ships on patrol in the region to shoot down many of these threats. The Iran-backed rebels have targeted Israeli territory and commercial ships that are transiting these strategic waterways, claiming that they're doing so in opposition to Israel's ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

While it's not the only warship to engage Houthi threats, the Carney has downed 22 of them without once taking a hit, according to the Navy's video.

In its most recent engagement, the destroyer downed three drones while responding to distress calls from multiple commercial ships under Houthi missile fire. The episode, which took place earlier this month, lasted several hours and marked the most expansive attack by the Yemen-based rebels.

Former US Navy captains told Business Insider that the Houthis aren't a significant threat to American warships in the region because Navy vessels are well-defended with surface-to-air missiles, close-in weapons systems, advanced radars, and other armaments. US officials, however, have increasingly warned that the militants do pose a risk to commercial ships and international shipping.

"We're not in an armed conflict with the Houthis," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during a Thursday briefing.

She added that the US has seen missiles and drones fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen but noted they are likely gunning for commercial ships in the area, not Navy warships.

"Part of why we are in the region is to bolster our deterrence, but to also ensure the free passageway of commercial ships that are transiting through one of the most vital water ways in the world," Singh said.

Washington has said that it's looking into creating a maritime task force to deal with the problem, expanding on the presence of a similar entity that's already in the region.

Meanwhile, a Houthi spokesperson said on Saturday that the militants will start to target any ship headed toward Israel, marking a notable escalation from previous attacks directed at vessels suspected of having affiliations to Israeli entities.