Yemen’s Houthis are the first to use anti-ship ballistic missiles in anger and have a diverse array of anti-ship cruise missiles, too.
Iranian-backed Houthi militants have become the first in the world to fire anti-ship ballistic missiles in anger, a threat that has been a hot topic of discussion for years. The group has also been making use of an increasingly diverse arsenal of anti-ship cruise missiles, and layering in kamikaze drones on top, in dozens of attacks in and around the Red Sea in the recent months. Despite all this, details about the Houthi anti-ship missile arsenal remain obscure, and recently the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank put together a useful guide to these weapons.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) first published its dive into the Houthi anti-ship missile arsenal last week. Details were provided about six anti-ship ballistic missiles and six more anti-ship cruise missiles that the Iranian-backed Yemeni group has acquired since 2014. A graphical breakdown of these weapons, seen below, was accompanied by an analysis of those capabilities from IISS’ Research Fellow for Defense and Military Analysis Fabian Hinz. That analysis is worth reading in full and can be found here.
