The Houthi rebels' missile advances have created a “global threat” with a military might that far outstrips many modern armies, experts have told The National.
For more than a decade the Iran-backed Houthis have been building up their aerial arsenal. They have assembled an inventory of attack drones, long-range ballistic rockets, anti-ship cruise missiles and kamikaze speedboats.
The arsenal is not vast – the rebels probably have fewer than 1,000 drones and several hundred ballistic missiles in total. But it is enough to put the group on a par with “one of the strongest countries in the whole world”, said Dr Lynette Nusbacher, a former military intelligence officer.
Her argument is that the Houthis now possess a formidable armoury that can cut off Red Sea shipping and, coupled with its ally Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, could choke the global energy economy at the Bab Al Mandeb strait.
Despite the 2025 US and Israeli attacks on Houthi weapons sites, factories and leaders, the group's ability to build, target and strike remains undiminished.
In the past year, following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear programme and the more recent war, Houthi activity appears to have been spurred on by Iranian engineers and components largely from China, leading to the creation of a significant Houthi arsenal.
“The Houthis never stopped building up their capabilities because they reckoned that they would need it one day, especially for days like this, if they want to have leverage on the international community,” said Baraa Shiban, an expert on the group at the Royal United Services Institute think tank. “They are a regional threat, but most certainly will soon become a global threat.”
The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi-linked shipping and oil infrastructure, saying they are responding to Riyadh’s support for the US-led campaign against Iran. The group has declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia and has twice struck the Jizan refinery, causing it to shut down.
Rocket engineers
With the assistance of the Iranians, Houthi engineers can now assemble their own rockets, using a vast smuggling network to bring in specialised components such as flight control computers, inertial navigation systems and jam-resistant GPS chips.
The Houthis' capabilities have evolved significantly since they seized Sanaa and its large stockpile of Yemeni army weapons in 2015.
They were quick to use the Soviet-era Scud missiles and reverse engineer a number of air-defence weapons to make them into land-attack projectiles.
That legacy equipment was largely expended and initially replaced by complete Iranian missiles and drones smuggled in by sea and land.
But their vulnerability to seizure led Iran to send in engineers to train Houthi specialists to assemble their own systems.
“The key thing that they need from the Iranians the most is that expertise to proliferate drones and ballistic missiles,” said Mr Shiban, who is originally from Yemen. “Right now they have IRGC operatives embedded with the Houthis.”
While the group cannot manufacture the internal components indigenously, it has the ability to make them from parts smuggled in through well-established dhow routes.
Experts believe that the Houthis have worked hard to update their arsenal and technological capabilities since the 2025 attacks.
Investigative organisation Conflict Armament Research has reported that the group is focused on missile construction.
“We know that the Houthis strive to produce as many parts of their weapons in Yemen as they can,” said Inbal Nissim-Louvton, recognised as Israel’s leading expert on Yemen. “They are good at adapting and resilient but they still rely mainly on Iran assistance, alongside Russia and China.”
Missile inventory
The Houthis have developed an armoury that extends from the most basic projectiles to sophisticated long-range missiles that would be the envy of some modern armies.
A reasonable estimate would be that the Houthis possess between 100 and 200 long-range ballistic missiles, experts believe.
The Palestine 2 missile, allegedly hypersonic and equipped with multiple warheads, has been fired repeatedly at Israel. It is part of a family of rockets that can achieve a range of between 1,500km and 2,000km.
However, the International Institute for Strategic Studies assesses that the Palestine 2 missiles are almost certainly supplied by Iran because they are too complex for indigenous production by the rebels, although they could be part-assembled in Yemen.
The Houthis also have a range of intermediate missiles including the Hatem, which has been noted by experts for its capabilities and since its unveiling in 2022. These include a range of 1,450km and it carries a 500kg warhead. The Hatem, based on Iran’s Kheibar Shekan, also has “advanced guidance capabilities and manoeuvrability”, according to the Alma conflict research centre.
Others included the Burkan family, with the Burkan-3 capable of a 1,200km strike while carrying a 500kg warhead.
The Houthis have broadened their stockpile of anti-ship cruise missiles, with the Quds series featuring prominently. It can fly for 2,000km and is equipped with low-altitude flight capabilities to evade detection and interception systems.
There are also the Chinese-Iranian-designed anti-ship missiles such as the C-801 that have been turned into locally developed variants, including the Al-Mandab, that target commercial shipping lanes.
Drones are now playing a dominant role. The Houthis have developed the Samad and Qasef series of kamikaze long-range strike models capable of travelling up to 2,500km with a payload of up to 50kg.
It also reported that by using Chinese commercial websites such as Alibaba for parts, they can order and assemble the Ababil-T first-person-view (FPV) drones for $1,500.
The Houthis have also entered the unmanned surface vessel weapons arena – which Ukraine has used successfully against Russia’s Black Sea fleet – developing remote-controlled fast boats to attack merchant vessels and warships. The Conflict Armament Research has reported that the rebels are possibly also developing an underwater drone as well as naval mines.
While the Houthis have no air force, they have managed to acquire components to upgrade shoulder-fired missiles and older Soviet air defence systems. This has led to the reported shooting down of 16 US Reaper combat drones, each worth $35 million.
“There is a complex Houthi operation going on, building up capacity, expertise, drones and they will keep on growing these capabilities,” said Mr Shiban.
'Complete fire control'
The Houthis, alongside Hezbollah, have “over time come to perform the functions of the military-industrial bases of rich, powerful states”, reported the Council on Foreign Relations, a US think tank.
The rebels, with Iran’s help, have also developed a network of smugglers who set up front companies to import “dual use” items such as washing machine circuit boards or jet ski engines to manufacture drones.
Analysts believe this has made them one of the world's most capable non-state missile forces.
“They are strong enough to choke commercial traffic passing through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and that makes them the strongest country in the whole world,” said Dr Nusbacher.
Mr Shiban agrees, stating that “soon they will be able to reach multiple targets across the Red Sea”, which will have a massive global impact if Iran “can leverage now both the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz”.
Sascha Bruchmann, of the IISS think tank, added that all Houthi resources are focused on their sophisticated defence programme, saying “it's not [spent] on governance, paying teachers’ salaries or health care”.
The weapons potentially give the Houthis and Iran “complete fire control” over shipping, he added. “That is the actual problem. They can roll them out of caves in mountains deep inside the valleys, protected from interception until they're in the air.”
