Houthis Use Varied Arsenal in Sustained Saudi Strikes

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Yemen's Houthis have developed a diverse arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, aerial drones and maritime weapons capable of sustaining attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia, according to military analysts cited by Agence France-Presse, as the renewed conflict places growing pressure on Saudi air defenses and civilian infrastructure.

AFP journalist Mathieu Rabechault reported that the Iran-backed group has repeatedly targeted oil facilities and airports across Saudi Arabia since early September, with Riyadh's airport alone targeted around 20 times.

The attacks have unfolded as fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government intensifies following the collapse of several years of relative calm.

April Longley Alley, a Yemen specialist at the Washington Institute, described the campaign as a cycle of reciprocal escalation, with the Houthis presenting their strategy in terms of matching blockades, airport attacks and military escalation.

The renewed confrontation followed a Saudi strike on Sanaa airport in July, which AFP reported was intended to prevent a Houthi delegation from landing there.

Since then, the Houthis have demonstrated an ability to employ different categories of weapons against targets in Saudi Arabia as well as around the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Analysts say part of the group's arsenal originated in weapons stocks captured when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014.

Other systems have either been smuggled into Yemen in complete form or assembled locally from components brought into the country, according to Niranjan BS, a strategic weapons analyst at Jane's.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance database indicates that the Houthis possess several types of medium-range ballistic missiles, some derived from Iranian designs, including systems related to the Kheibar Shekan.

They also possess shorter-range weapons, including the Asef anti-ship missile, which the Wilson Center has linked to Iran's Khalij Fars missile family.

Their cruise-missile inventory includes weapons associated with Iran's Quds family. One version, the Quds-4, is believed to have a range of around 2,000 kilometers, according to the Wilson Center.

That combination gives the Houthis the ability to threaten targets at varying distances and from different directions.

The group also operates both aerial and maritime drones.

Niranjan said Houthi Waeid-1 and Waeid-2 one-way attack drones are local versions of Iran's Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 systems respectively.

Iran's role in the development of the Houthi arsenal remains central to assessments of the group's military capability.

The Middle East Institute has said Tehran provided important military assistance, particularly missiles and unmanned aerial systems, with components manufactured in Iran and moved into Yemen through maritime routes or across the Oman-Yemen border before assembly.

However, analysts caution against assuming that Iranian support amounts to direct operational control.

Israeli Iran specialist Danny Citrinowicz said the Houthis view themselves as partners of Tehran rather than simply as Iranian proxies.

He argued that Iranian personnel associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force advise the Houthis but do not necessarily make decisions on individual operations.

The United States has also accused international procurement networks of helping the Houthis acquire materials.

In June 2024, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned an individual in China whom it accused of helping obtain components that allowed Houthi forces to manufacture advanced conventional weapons inside Yemen.

The durability of the Houthi arsenal is another concern for their opponents.

Longley Alley noted that the group has already endured prolonged bombing campaigns by Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel.

That experience, she argued, means the Houthis are accustomed to absorbing military pressure and may calculate that they can sustain a confrontation longer than their adversaries expect.

The latest events illustrate both the reach of the threat and the uncertainty surrounding attribution in individual incidents.

The Saudi-led coalition said Thursday it intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over Medina province.

It did not publicly identify who launched the missile.

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree denied that his group was responsible, pointing to an earlier Houthi pledge not to target airports in the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

That denial is important because AFP's broader reporting has said the Houthis previously made unsuccessful attempts to target both holy cities. The supplied reporting does not establish Houthi responsibility for the latest Medina incident.

Elsewhere in Yemen, however, the Houthis claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes near the palace used by the internationally recognized government in Aden.

An official cited by The Associated Press said at least two people were killed and six wounded. Yemen's government leaders in the city were reported safe.

The escalation has also drawn an unusually unified international response.

The United Nations Security Council condemned ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, particularly strikes against civilian airports and other facilities, and affirmed Saudi Arabia's right to self-defense under international law.

For Saudi Arabia, the challenge is not only the number of attacks but the variety of systems available to the Houthis.

Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aerial drones and maritime weapons give the group multiple ways to pressure Saudi defenses while also threatening shipping routes around Bab al-Mandab.

The emerging picture is therefore of a battle-hardened movement with an arsenal built from captured stocks, foreign assistance, smuggled components and local assembly, and one that military analysts believe remains capable of sustaining attacks even under heavy retaliatory pressure.