How Iranian tech empowers Houthi drone, missile attacks in the Red Sea

WASHINGTON — Houthi rebels harassing crowded shipping lanes in the Greater Middle East, eliciting responses from the U.S. military and other forces, are relying on foreign arsenals for their missiles and drones in the air and on the water.

Experts interviewed by C4ISRNET said the militant group based in Yemen, from where Red Sea and Gulf of Aden bombardments have sprung, is using Iranian technology and its derivatives. The regime has long propped up a constellation of combatants in advancement of its own goals, with its assets recently recovered in both Ukraine, after Russian use, and Iraq .

“Despite being the latest militia to join Iran’s axis of resistance network, the Houthis are in possession of some of the most sophisticated copies or variants of Iranian weapons,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.

The arms wielded include unmanned aerial vehicles designed for attacks, such as the Wa’eed-2, analogous to Iran’s Shahed-136 and capable of traveling more than 1,000 miles; anti-ship ballistic missiles; and unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, packed with explosives and dispatched for detonation.

“Tehran and its proxies have become increasingly cognizant of the economic costs imposed on their adversaries to intercept drones, rockets, and missiles, and is something they intend to exploit,” Taleblu said.

“Drones are lower and slower flying than ballistic missiles and may be better suited to controlling escalation. Ballistic missiles, which fly high and fast, require different capabilities to intercept,” he added. “Iran is home to the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East and has increasingly become a drone power as well.”

Houthis have since mid-November launched at least 25 attacks in the Red Sea area, preying on what they say are Israel-affiliated endeavors in a bid to halt the war in Gaza.

The fighting there, sparked by a surprise Hamas offensive , has raged for months with little sign of abatement. It also threatens to further inflame a region already considered a hotbed for extremist activity.

“Between Hezbollah and Houthis, Iran is putting pressure on Israel from both ends, and then they’ve got Hamas inside of Israel providing pressure internally,” said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute think tank.

The U.S. Navy earlier this month took credit for downing more than 60 missiles and drones, including a flock of the latter encountered by the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney on Dec. 16.

At the service’s disposal are an array of tools, the Standard Missile-2 and 5-inch gun among them, according to Clark. The engagement calculus is complicated by shipboard stockpiles and cost, though. Each SM-2 is worth millions of dollars; Houthi drones are a fraction of that.

The U.S. Navy destroyer Carney shot down multiple missiles and drones fired by Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau/U.S. Navy)

“You have to engage them at short range, if you want to do it cost-effectively. So you have to get familiar with, well, how close can that drone get without being a problem? How long does it take to get to me from that place?” Clark said. “That’s probably the biggest thing, is getting that comfort and familiarity with how to engage drones with the best weapons that don’t take up your magazine capacity.”

Leaders from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Bahrain, South Korea and more have condemned Houthi aggression while also promising military retaliation. U.S. troops sunk three Houthi boats and killed their crews after responding Dec. 31 to distress calls from the Maersk Hangzhou container ship.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Navy operations in the Greater Middle East, described the clashes in the Red Sea as an “international problem that requires an international solution.” Cooper on Jan. 4 briefed reporters about Operation Prosperity Guardian , a defensive coalition assembled to ensure safe passage of commercial vessels.

Some 1,500 ships have moved through the economically vital waters since the start of the operation.

“Regardless of the vessel’s company ownership or its destination, these Houthi attacks are, for sure, destabilizing and contrary to international law,” Cooper said. “It’s up to the Houthis to halt the attacks . They’re the instigator and initiator.”

Colin Demarest was a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covered military networks, cyber and IT. Colin had previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.

华盛顿——胡塞武装分子在大中东地区骚扰拥挤的航道，引发美国军队和其他部队的回应，他们依靠外国武器库提供空中和海上导弹及无人机。

C4ISRNET采访的专家表示，盘踞在也门的武装组织正在使用伊朗技术及其衍生产品，该组织对红海和亚丁湾发动了猛烈轰炸。伊朗政权长期以来扶植了一系列武装力量以实现自身目标，其资产近期在乌克兰（曾被俄罗斯使用）和伊拉克均被收回。

“尽管胡塞武装是最新加入伊朗抵抗轴心网络的民兵组织，但他们却拥有一些最先进的伊朗武器仿制品或变种，”保卫民主基金会智库高级研究员贝赫纳姆·本·塔莱布鲁表示。

所使用的武器包括专为攻击而设计的无人机，例如与伊朗的 Shahed-136 类似的 Wa'eed-2，其航程超过 1000 英里；反舰弹道导弹；以及装满炸药并被派往引爆的无人水面舰艇（USV）。

“德黑兰及其代理人越来越意识到拦截无人机、火箭和导弹会给对手带来经济成本，他们打算利用这一点，”塔勒布鲁说。

“无人机飞行高度更低、速度更慢，比弹道导弹更适合控制局势升级。弹道导弹飞行高度高、速度快，需要不同的拦截能力，”他补充道。“伊朗拥有中东地区最大的弹道导弹武库，并且也日益成为无人机强国。”

自 11 月中旬以来，胡塞武装在红海地区至少发动了 25 次袭击，他们声称这些袭击是与以色列有关的活动，目的是阻止加沙战争。

由哈马斯突如其来的攻势引发的冲突已持续数月，丝毫没有缓和的迹象。这场冲突还有可能进一步激化这个已被视为极端主义活动温床的地区。

“伊朗通过真主党和胡塞武装从两方面向以色列施压，而以色列境内的哈马斯也在施加内部压力，”哈德逊研究所高级研究员兼国防概念与技术中心主任布莱恩·克拉克说。

美国海军本月早些时候宣称击落了 60 多枚导弹和无人机，其中包括 12 月 16 日导弹驱逐舰“卡尼”号遇到的一群无人机。

克拉克表示，该部队拥有多种武器装备，其中包括标准-2型导弹和5英寸舰炮。然而，舰载武器储备和成本使交战策略变得复杂。每枚标准-2导弹价值数百万美元；而胡塞武装的无人机价格仅为其一小部分。

美国海军驱逐舰“卡尼”号在也门击落了多枚由伊朗支持的胡塞武装发射的导弹和无人机。（美国海军二级大众传播专家亚伦·劳摄）

“要想经济高效地打击无人机，就必须在近距离与其交战。所以你必须熟悉无人机在多近的距离下才不会构成威胁？从那个位置到我这里需要多长时间？”克拉克说。“这或许是最重要的，你需要熟练掌握如何使用既能有效打击无人机又不会占用太多弹匣容量的武器。”

美国、英国、澳大利亚、巴林、韩国等国领导人谴责胡塞武装的侵略行径，并承诺进行军事报复。12月31日，美军接到“马士基杭州”号货轮的求救信号后，击沉了三艘胡塞武装船只，并击毙了船上人员。

美国海军驻中东地区作战司令布拉德·库珀中将称红海冲突是“需要国际解决的国际问题”。1月4日，库珀向记者介绍了“繁荣卫士行动”，这是一项为确保商船安全通行而组建的防御联盟。

自行动开始以来，已有约 1500 艘船只通过了这片经济上非常重要的水域。

库珀说：“无论船只的所属公司或目的地如何，胡塞武装的这些袭击无疑具有破坏性和违反国际法的性质。停止袭击是胡塞武装的责任。他们是煽动者和发起者。”

科林·德马雷斯特曾是C4ISRNET的记者，负责报道军事网络、网络安全和信息技术方面的新闻。此前，他曾为南卡罗来纳州的一家日报报道美国能源部及其下属的国家核安全管理局，主要关注冷战后的清理工作和核武器研发。科林还是一位屡获殊荣的摄影师。