ABOARD THE USS LABOON IN THE RED SEA \u2014 The U.S. Navy prepared for decades to potentially fight the Soviet Union, then later Russia and China, on the world\u2019s waterways. But instead of a global power, the Navy finds itself locked in combat with a shadowy, Iran-backed rebel group based in Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthi rebels<\/a>, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war<\/a> in the Gaza Strip, has turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy has faced since World War II, its leaders and experts told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\t