Yemen, Aden:foreign warships shell Houthi emplacements

Egyptian navy Alexandria (F 911) FFG-7 frigate passing through the Suez Canal, on its way to the Red Sea, March 26, 2015.

Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:17 pm EDT Reuters: Eyewitnesses in Aden said foreign warships shelled Houthi emplacements around the city's main commercial port and dockyard, the first time they had been targeted.

March 26  Saudi naval blockade of Bab El-Mandab strait: GCC will keep straits open

 (Oct. 25, 2008) As-Sadiq class missile boat 525 Ouqbah (1982) (عُقبه)) of the Royal Saudi Navy

"We would work in conjunction with our GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) partners to ensure that those straits remain open," U.S. Army General Lloyd Austin t.   The Saudi-led Decisive Storm coalition has imposed a naval blockade of Bab El-Mandab strait which connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean


[January 10 2014 Egypt's Fast Missile Craft : first transferred]
The United States, concerned over a major Russian arms deal, has quietly transferred an advanced combat naval vessel to Egypt. The U.S. Navy oversaw the transfer of the first of four fast missile craft to Egypt despite a delivery halt of major combat platforms. On Nov. 19, the Egyptian Navy received the Ambassador-3 class FMC, produced by VT Halter Marine, during a ceremony in Pensacola, Fla.

The Obama administration is in the midst of a case-by-case review of aid programs for Egypt to determine whether any should be suspended in light of the actions of the military-backed government. So says the administration, which insists that the review does not equal a hold or a suspension of aid — yet.
Military assistance facing scrutiny includes contracts for four Fast Missile Craft -- patrol boats that are scheduled for delivery starting next month -- as well as Harpoon antiship missiles for delivery in November, according to the July document. Four Fast Missile Craft are due to be delivered from September to April 2014 under a contract with VT Halter Marine Inc. valued at $815.1 million, of which $724.8 million had been paid to the prime contractor. The program’s total value is $1.1 billion, of which $863.4 million had been disbursed.
The Egyptian Navy's fast missile craft (FMC), also called the Ambassador IV-Class patrol craft, is a missile boat developed by VT Halter Marine, a subsidiary of ST Engineering. The FMC can accommodate a crew of up to 40 sailors. It has been developed in the US for the Egyptian Navy under the foreign military sales (FMS) programme.
The Government of Egypt has been planning to replace many of its ageing fast attack craft (FACs), which have been in service since 1966 and since the 1990s. The navy has procured four fast missile boats from the US Navy.
The new FMC vessels will be used to defend armed surface and shipping threats in the coastal waterways of the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and Red Sea. The FMC will perform coastal patrolling both independently and jointly for surveillance, surface strike operations, interdiction and task group support missions.