Shoot the Archer, Not the Arrow

That was the mantra of Navy AAW: Kill the launching platform, instead of the missiles it launched.

That maxim came to mind when I read this:

The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday in Bahrain.
...
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement released just after midnight in Bahrain. “Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative.”

Swatting missiles and drones out of the sky seems kind of futile. Generally, if you want somebody to stop shooting at you, you shoot back at them.

There is even a military term for it: Counterbattery fire.