Navy confirms $1 billion spent over 6 months to defend Middle East

Navy spent almost $1B in 6 months to fend off Middle East attacks

U.S. Navy forces countered more than 130 attacks in 6 months
The cost is approaching $1 billion
Navy secretary says aid package 'critical' to replenishing supplies

Tanya Noury

Updated: Apr 18, 2024 / 09:02 PM CDT

The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is seen moored in the Mediterranean Sea off the Israeli port of Haifa on July 1, 2017.
The 1,092 feet (333 metres) carrier which can carry 6,000 personnel, is one of the worlds largest warships. / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The U.S. Navy has spent nearly $1 billion fending off attacks by Iran and its proxies in the Middle East over the last six months, a Navy official confirms to NewsNation.

The cost includes munitions to defend Israel against Iran’s weekend drone and missile barrage, the official said.

U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told lawmakers Tuesday the Navy countered more than 130 direct attacks on U.S. troops and personnel in the eastern Mediterranean Sea since Hamas launched an attack in Israel on Oct. 7.

“Over the course of the last six months … we have actually countered over 130 direct attacks on U.S. Navy ships and merchant ships,” Del Toro said at a Senate Appropriations Committee on Defense budget hearing.

“The munitions that are critical to these counterstrikes are extremely important to the Department of Navy,” Del Toro said. “We currently [are] approaching $1 billion in munitions that we need to replenish at some point in time. So, therefore, the over $2 billion that’s provided for in the supplemental is direly critical to our Navy and Marine Corps to be able to replenish those munitions and continue to provide the types of defensive measures that we have this past six and a half months now.”

“It’s critical for Congress to pass the supplemental this week so that we can actually get the additional resources to be able to supplement those munitions that will be critical moving forward,” Del Toro added.

Sharp divisions with House Republicans have stalled the Senate-passed $95 billion aid bill for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, which would allocate $2.4 billion in funding to support U.S. military operations in the Red Sea.

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday is moving ahead on a foreign aid plan — that largely mirrors the Senate-passed supplemental — despite revolt within his conference.

President Joe Biden threw his support behind Johnson’s proposal that would “send a message to the world.”

“I strongly support this package to get critical support to Israel and Ukraine, provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday. “The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow. I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”