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Posted on 01/10/2024 8:00:47 PM PST by texas booster
Over just a few years, Houthi rebels in Yemen have amassed a remarkably diverse array of anti-ship weaponry, incorporating both cruise and ballistic missiles, which they have recently used to threaten shipping in the Red Sea. The critical role that Iran has played in this build-up raises broader questions about Tehran’s regional strategy.
Yemen’s Ansarullah (Houthi) movement has been threatening shipping in the Red Sea with an increasingly diverse and capable range of anti-ship missiles. The attacks are putting pressure on commercial cargo vessels on a vital trade route and the developing naval coalition that is trying to ensure freedom of navigation in those waters.
Iran is the key source for Houthi anti-ship missile technology, except for a few obsolescent Soviet-era systems and slightly less antiquated Chinese designs. Anti-ship missiles, along with uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) and speedboats, have become the group’s weapons of choice in its ongoing campaign against shipping in the Red Sea.
Houthi forces have possessed anti-ship missiles for almost a decade now, using them to harass military and commercial maritime traffic. It has also been a period during which the group’s ability to threaten ships has undergone significant enhancement. When Houthi forces took control of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in late 2014 and early 2015, they acquired their first anti-ship missiles in the form of obsolescent Soviet-made P-21 and P-22- missiles (RS-SSC-3 Styx), as well as the slightly more modern Chinese C-801 (YJ-81/CH-SS-N-4 Sardine), from Yemeni military stocks.
Designated Rubezh B21/B22 and Al-Mandab 1, these missiles are still paraded by the Houthis, but it is unclear if they remain operational or how many they possess. More critically, though, the Houthi forces have gotten their hands on new, better equipment since those early acquisitions.
(Excerpt) Read more at iiss.org ...
In 2019, the US Navy’s USS Forest Sherman (DDG-98) guided missile destroyer intercepted a vessel in the Arabian Sea smuggling Iranian-made arms to Yemen, including a version of the Chinese C-802 (YJ-82/CH-SS-N-6 Saccade) anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM). Iran began producing the 120 kilometre-range C-802 domestically as the Nour in the 1990s and developed it into the 200 km-range Ghader and the 300 km-range Ghadir. While it is uncertain which versions the Houthis received, the group claimed their C-802s (named Al-Mandab 2) had a range of 300 km, suggesting a potential transfer of the Ghadir.
In parades in 2022 and 2023, the Houthis unveiled additional ASCMs, including what appeared to be two anti-ship versions of the Iranian Quds/351 LACM. One version is allegedly equipped with a radar-homing seeker (Sayyad), and the other has an electro-optical/infrared seeker (Quds Z-0). Based on the range of the original Quds and on Houthi statements, both systems could have a range of at least 800 km.
The parades also featured a variety of anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) and guided rockets employing Iranian infrared or imaging infrared seeker technology. The 450 km-range Asef appears to be a rebranded ASBM version of Iran’s Fateh 313 missile, while the Tankil represents a previously unseen anti-ship version of the IRGC-developed 500 km-range Zohayr. The two designs constitute the heaviest Houthi anti-ship missiles, both with warheads of more than 300 kilograms, and are of Iranian origin.
Three smaller ASBMs – the 140 km-range Faleq, the Mayun and the Bahr al-Ahmar – strongly resemble Iranian design philosophy and seeker technology but do not precisely match known Iranian systems. They could either be Iranian systems not observed before and smuggled to Yemen, or Houthi-produced rockets combined using Iranian guidance kits, not unlike developments made by another Iran proxy, the Lebanese Hizbullah, in its precision-guided surface-to-surface missile programme. Finally, the Houthis have presented an S-75 (SA-2) surface-to-air missile, likely from pre-war Yemeni army stocks, modified for an anti-ship role using an Iranian guidance kit.
ASBM technology is complex, and Iranian officials have admitted to finding its development challenging. While it remains unknown how reliably Iranian ASBMs perform and whether they can be used against mobile targets, Iran has released footage of their successful test against static targets. Thus, unlike some of the proven ASCM designs operated by the Houthis, their ASBMs represent more of an unknown quantity.
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Welp, I guess we got to test things like the Stinger against the Soviets by giving them to the mujahideen in Afghanistan...
...and now the Iranians will do the same thing against us via the Houthis.
Find base
Target base
Eliminate base
***
Repeat as needed until problem eliminated.
Mostly to learn, and to understand what we are against.
Well, they aren’t seeing much success thus far.
Thanks for the post, interesting reading.
What prevents the US or any other war ship returning fire with a cruise missile upon being fired upon. IS it because of close proximity to Saudi Arabia??
There’s an Iranian bulk cargo ship loitering around the entrance to the Bab al-Mandab. It’s has been sailing back and forth identifying cargo ships for the Houthis.
https://youtu.be/_RSH3jhSvHM?si=HwZO_Sc3jepM_Rkm
While our forces were under attack our SecDef was missing and nobody knew where he was.
Rules of Engagement set by the Defense secretary and the Biden administration.
Might as well have the muzzie commies inside the State Dept decide our military strategy.
Many suspect that they "leak" info to our enemies.
Someone has top be giving the Houthis targeting information.
After all, it would be a shame to target the wrong ship.
I understand Iran has sent a warship they call a frigate to the area.
Spotting is important to any missile firing being accurate.
The Houtis should be given asylum here. Perhaps they can live in high schools. It’s only humane. Jk.
Just wait until the Ewoks blow up a tanker. It will happen.
That’s makes for a damned effective blockade of Israeli connected shipping through the southern Suez route. The Iranians absolutely know who they want to attack and intimidate. All western traffic turn off their identification and tracking signal as they run the Houthis batteries. The Chinese do not. I say send in the Marines and do a Vicksburg siege on the Houthis. The U.S. Navy appears musclebound, reactive and almost helpless.
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