Yemen’s Houthi movement has assembled a formidable missile and drone arsenal that enables varied and sustained strike capabilities, as Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government it backs are discovering through an escalating cycle of retaliatory attacks.
A Strategy of Tit-for-Tat Escalation
Since early September, the Houthis have struck key oil infrastructure and airports across Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh’s international airport targeted 20 times. The group has also attempted, unsuccessfully, to hit the cities of Madina and Makkah.
The return to hostilities after a four-year truce was triggered in July when Saudi forces bombarded Sanaa’s airport to prevent a Houthi delegation from landing there. Since then, a pattern of reciprocal military strikes has taken hold.
“The Houthis framed this campaign as blockade for blockade, airport for airport, escalation for escalation,” said April Longley Alley, a Yemen specialist at the Washington Institute think tank.
A Diverse and Expanding Weapons Inventory
The Houthis possess a large range of ballistic missiles and drones, which they are also using to target vessels in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.
The group’s missile stocks partly come from arsenals seized when it captured Sanaa in 2014, as well as “whole systems smuggled in, or self-manufactured systems built from parts that were themselves smuggled into Yemen, primarily via the Arabian Sea,” explained Niranjan BS, a strategic weapons analyst at Jane’s, the open-source intelligence company.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance database, the Houthis field several types of medium-range missiles, many derived from Iranian models such as the Kheibar Shekan.
- Short-range missiles, including the Asef anti-ship missile derived from Iran’s Khalij Fars class
- Cruise missiles from Iran’s Quds family, with version 4 believed to have a range of 2,000 kilometres
- Aerial drones including the Waeid-1 and Waeid-2, described as local copies of Iran’s Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 one-way attack UAVs
- Maritime drones capable of targeting shipping in regional waters
Iran’s Critical Support Role
“Iran has provided critical military assistance to the Houthis, particularly with the delivery of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicle systems,” the Middle East Institute said in a report.
“Missile and UAV parts are designed and manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Yemen via small boats, container ships, or over the Oman-Yemen border, where they are assembled,” it added.
In June 2024, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on a man in China suspected of links to the Houthis, accusing him of playing “a key role in procuring materials that enable Houthi forces to manufacture advanced conventional weapons inside Yemen.”
Capacity to Endure Prolonged Conflict
Having already weathered years of conflict, the Houthis are viewed as capable of sustaining their arsenal for the long term.
“We need to remember with the Houthis that they have withstood punishing air campaigns before, from the Saudis, from the Americans, and from the Israelis,” said Longley Alley.
“This is a battle-hardened group, and they have much less to lose than the Saudis.”
She added that “the Houthis are probably calculating that they can go longer because they’re used to absorbing these strikes.”
