Houthi rebels are experimenting with new weapons such as “loitering torpedoes” as they increase their ability to wage war in Yemen and launch attacks across the Middle East, arms experts have revealed.
While long-range Houthi strikes have attracted the most attention, the rebels can also draw on an array of close-range drones and anti-tank weapons as they push to the sea in Yemen, according to new findings by Conflict Armament Research.
The British weapons investigation group, whose team visited Yemen this month, said Iran remains key to resupplying the Houthis but that the rebels are also conducting their own research.
The National this week revealed Iran's key role in the latest Houthi offensive, with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel in Yemen as Tehran uses the conflict there as a new front in the regional war.
The Houthis last week captured Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline in a lightning advance that widens the scope of the Middle East war. The crisis has separated families and forced more than 125,000 people from their homes.
Fabian Hinz, a CAR analyst, said the Houthis had made progress in their arsenal and in the “tactics, techniques and procedures” used to employ them. One recent example was a “time-sensitive” ballistic missile launch shortly after a flight by a surveillance drone.
“While much attention has focused on the Houthis’ build-up of longer-range strike capabilities, the group has also amassed a wide variety of systems aimed at strengthening its war-fighting capabilities within Yemen,” Mr Hinz said.
These include small drones, loitering munitions, artillery rockets, close-range ballistic missiles and anti-tank guided missiles.
“Crucially, this includes evidence of Houthi experimentation with technology that Conflict Armament Research has not documented in the possession of any armed group elsewhere in the world,” Mr Hinz said.
These include “navigation modules and propellers that may be used in loitering torpedoes, which would greatly extend the Houthis’ ability to attack maritime targets”.
The Houthis say they have seized 5,400 square kilometres of land in their latest military sweep. They have also carried out attacks in Saudi Arabia, including a drone launch towards Makkah that failed to reach the holy city but was widely condemned across the Arab world.
Iran transfers
The rebels have previously intervened in the regional war to attack shipping in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and with Iran. The US, UK and pro-government forces in Yemen have intercepted cargo transfers from Iran in an attempt to cut off the Houthi supply line.
CAR said it had analysed some of the cargo from one such seizure in June 2025, discovering an “unprecedented scale and scope of weapons”.
“Evidence suggests that Iran-linked supply networks are not only shipping complete weapons and knockdown kits for local assembly to the Houthis, but also seeking to enable the local manufacture of certain systems within Yemen,” said Rob Hunter-Parkins, the group's head of research.
“There is also evidence to suggest that the Houthis are now using the technological foundation provided by Iran to pursue their own research and development efforts, such as using hydrogen power to increase the range of its uncrewed systems.”
The same organisation revealed in May that the Houthis had developed a stockpile of anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles, as well as underwater weapons. The Houthis now have at least 10 missile types in comparison to their archaic Soviet-era missiles of 2014.
War has plagued Yemen since 2014, when the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition intervened on behalf of the government months later. There were already four million internally displaced people before the latest fighting, some of whom have been forced to move several times over the past 12 years.
While the US has largely stayed out of the fray, Vice President JD Vance and foreign policy adviser Massad Boulos have hinted at behind-the-scenes talks. One report on Wednesday said US officials had met Houthi representatives in Oman.
The report by Reuters, quoting sources, said the talks took place at the weekend with the Houthis assuring the US they had no intention of attacking American ships. It said the US was represented by embassy staff in Muscat.
The State Department said it had no comment on the reported meeting.
"However, we remain in regular communication with our regional allies and partners regarding Yemen and are focused on our shared counterterrorism goals against the Houthis and other terrorist groups that sow chaos throughout the region," a State Department spokesperson said.
