What Air Defenses Do the Houthis in Yemen Have?

The Long War Journal, part of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank in Washington, D.C., has previously estimated the missile to have a range of between around 50 and 93 miles (80 and 150 kilometers) and be able to reach targets at altitudes of between 20,000 and 30,000 feet. “Iran’s 358 SAM, known in Yemen as the Saqr SAM, has had an outsized impact on the Houthi aerial threat, particularly against US unmanned systems over the last year and a half” and “is likely to continue to play a major role in the Houthi’s ability to generate costs for the U.S.,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, also told TWZ. Already, “the Houthis have shown the world that even the most cash strapped actors in one of the poorer parts of the world can punch well above their weight when they have a state patron [Iran] willing to float advanced state level military capabilities into the hands of a non-state actor” and demonstrated “the ability of the adversary to adapt and learn on the battlefield,” FDD’s Taleblu also told TWZ.

Author: Joseph Trevithick

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