An important achievement in the history of the Yemeni Houthis was achieved by successfully hitting targets at sea using anti-ship missiles. The result was announced on December 9, when Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarrea warned that they would no longer limit themselves to Israeli ships, but would target all ships destined for Israel. This warning was quickly verified. Germany's Hapag-Lloyd shipping company confirmed that a cargo ship named Jasra was attacked near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, resulting in damage to the vessel and**.
According to sources, the attack was carried out by an unknown ** fired from the Houthi-controlled area of Yemen towards the Jasra. Subsequently, the Houthis announced that they had also fired missiles at two other freighters near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and hit their targets. The significance of this incident lies in the fact that this is the first time in the history of mankind that an anti-ship ballistic missile has been successfully hit a moving target at sea. Due to frequent attacks in the Red Sea region, commercial insurance rates have been significantly lowered, and many shipping lines have announced that their vessels will be rerouted to avoid the threat of attack.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and is a vital link in the world's most important transportation. However, the area is currently under blockade by Yemen's Houthi rebels, putting the entire Bab el-Mandeb Strait region within range of anti-ship missile attacks. The strategic position of this region is very important, as 12%** of the Red Sea must pass through it. It is worth mentioning that the narrow strip of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is very difficult to navigate due to geography and seabed conditions, which makes the Houthi control even more severe.
Overall, the attack has attracted great attention from the international shipping industry and highlighted the geopolitical risks in the Red Sea region. Shipping companies will have to adjust their routes to circumvent potential threats, which will have a significant impact on global ** shipping. Recently, the United States is urgently asking all countries of the world to participate in the convoy and organize it into a joint fleet. The French Navy's Aquitaine-class frigates and the Languedoc are already on escort missions in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. And the latest intelligence shows that Israel has finally reacted by sending four capital warships to Yemen to fight the Houthis.
The Houthis have been preparing for more than a month and have successfully lured the Israeli navy into dispatch. Once Israel** is in range, the Houthis will be ready to use drones, anti-ship missiles, and cruise missiles against them, staging a missile attack on an unprecedented scale in the Red Sea. This shows the determination and tactics of the Houthis. At the moment, anti-ship ballistic missiles remain the best option for asymmetric attacks on sea targets. According to open sources, the Houthis may use a type of ** known as an ocean-based anti-ship ballistic missile.
The missile has a blue livery and features an oval warhead, a cylindrical body, and a fixed straight upper wing. It uses a sling-mounted engine and the booster tail has a special cut-angle trapezoidal design. The missile is an Iranian-assembled cruise missile of the Quds (Quds) family of cruise missiles, which debuted in 2021. There are four modifications of the Quds series of missiles, which were improved by Iran on the basis of the introduction of China's Hongqi-2A surface-to-air missiles and their modifications, the "Project 8610" B610 B611 series missiles.
The early Quds-1 missile was about 340 mm in diameter and about 5 mm long4 meters and weighs 450 kg. It is powered by a TJ-100 jet engine manufactured by the Czech company PBSAEROSPACE, with an outer diameter of 272 mm, a length of 636 mm, and a weight of 176 kg, thrust 1250N, possible range of only 700-800 km, inertial navigation plus GPS civilian guidance. The improved Al-Quds-2 and Al-Quds-3 have longer bodies and are expected to have a range of about 1,350 and 1,600 kilometers, while the Quds-4 has a longer range of 2,000 kilometers.
The Houthi attack is likely to use the Al-Quds-2 and Al-Quds 3 versions. This tactic of striking moving targets at sea from a fixed position on the shore is essentially a modern version of the tactics of coastal batteries, in fact, a form of fortified defense. The implementation of such tactics requires a full-fledged marine surveillance system, including a network of marine surveillance satellites and electronic reconnaissance satellites. It is essential to have skywave radar to search for and locate ships.
However, it is not enough to simply find the target, to achieve a strike on a mobile ship, a navigation and positioning system, such as China's Beidou satellite navigation system, or the United States' GPS, is also needed. It is clear from this that Yemen's Houthi rebels have clever tactical guidance behind them. In fact, not only the Houthis in Yemen, but also Allah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Syrian ** army, the Shiite militia in Iraq, and the Quds Force, all of these organizations are behind Iran, and they all regard Ayatollah Khomeini as their spiritual mentor.
Attacks on targets such as the United States and Israel are rare, and even fewer are those that unite so many religious tribes. Among these groups, Yemen's Houthis are considered the most combative and geographically favorable, and almost no one but Saudi Arabia dares to offend. Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis since April, but has recently shown signs of backing down, and no other country is willing to intervene in the fight.
Crucially, Yemen's Houthis do not have any critical facilities worth attacking, no factories, no high-rise buildings, not even large commercial buildings, which makes it impossible for US and Israeli missiles to find suitable targets. Someone once asked a leader of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Bouhaiti: Yemen is so poor, why does it choose to go to war instead of developing its economy?His reply was: "Do you make us choose to starve or stay dignified?".If you choose to trade dignity for food, that's your choice, but we won't accept such conditions.
He also said that the fight against the Zionist entity made them feel warm and happy inside, and they were ecstatic when they heard that the US aircraft carrier was coming. For the Houthis in Yemen, the Lebanese Allah Party and the fighters of Hamas, learning how to fight Xi war has been their life's goal and direction from birth.