Support from Iran?
Russians warn of hypersonic missiles from the Houthis
March 14, 2024, 4:05 p.m
The Houthis regularly attack ships in the Red Sea, and a Western alliance has so far been able to repel all of the missile attacks. Now Russia is warning of a new weapon in the ranks of the militia. This could make future attacks significantly more dangerous.
According to a Russian media report, the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has hypersonic missiles. “The group’s missile forces have successfully tested a missile capable of reaching a speed of Mach 8 and flying on solid propellant,” Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a military official with close ties to the Houthis as saying. The militia wanted to begin construction and use the projectiles in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and against Israel. RIA did not provide any evidence for this statement. Mach 8 means eight times the speed of sound.
The Shiite Houthi militia has been attacking merchant ships off the Yemeni coast since November, according to its own statements, to support the militant Islamist Hamas in the fight against Israel. However, many targets have no clear ties to Israel. On Thursday, the British Navy’s Maritime Trade Inspectorate reported another attack. The bullet missed a ship in the Gulf of Aden and caused no damage, she said.
The USA has founded an alliance to protect merchant shipping in the Suez Canal, which is at risk from the attacks, and repeatedly attacks suspected Houthi missile storage facilities and launch pads – sometimes with the support of British aircraft.
“We have surprises”
Alliance forces have so far intercepted every Houthi attack on their warships. This could become more difficult with hypersonic weapons because they fly faster and are more maneuverable than traditional missiles. The militia has repeatedly boasted about its arsenal. “We have surprises that the enemies do not expect at all,” said Houthi chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi at the end of February, and sounded last week: “The enemy (…) will recognize the level of achievements of strategic importance that ours The country’s capabilities place it among the few and selected states in the world.”
Projectiles that travel faster than Mach 5 are considered hypersonic weapons. Russia claims to have such weapons, and China and the USA are working on it. Iran claims to have a hypersonic missile called Fattah and is developing another. He works closely with Russia on arms issues, supplying drones for its war against Ukraine.
Missile expert Fabian Hinz of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said he would not be surprised if Iran gave the Houthis a new hypersonic weapon. The question, however, is how maneuverable it is and whether it could hit moving targets at hypersonic speeds, such as ships in the Red Sea. “I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Houthis have a system that is capable of maneuvering to a certain extent,” Hinz said. “It is also possible that the Iranians will pass new material to the Houthis for testing.”