In the past 48 hours, a fierce clash has erupted over and off the Red Sea, with the Houthis fighting fierce battles with the US, Britain and France. The battle began on February 19, when the U.S. military took the lead in destroying Yemen's Houthi unmanned underwater vehicles and two anti-ship missile bases.
On the morning of the same day, Yemen's Houthi rebels demonstrated their ability to strike back, adding tensions to the situation when two anti-ship missiles hit the British freighter Ruby with precision. In order to reveal the source of the potential threat of the Houthis, the US military further intensified its reconnaissance operations, and on the same day, it dispatched an MQ-9 Global Hawk large reconnaissance drone to the area around the port of Hodeidah, intending to detect and locate the Houthi missile launch positions and drone facilities.
The U.S. Global Hawk drone, which hovers around the clock along the Yemeni coastline and searches, has become the target of the Houthis, who have gradually figured out the pattern of the reconnaissance plane's activities through continuous observation. In order to cope with aerial reconnaissance, the Houthi air defense forces have adopted a flexible deployment strategy, arranging anti-aircraft missile launchers in areas frequently infested by US drones in a decentralized manner.
As night fell, a large U.S. Global Hawk drone of great value quietly flew into the sky above the port of Hodeidah, and the Houthis had premeditated their time. At this moment, the Houthi radar system suddenly activated, locked onto the target, and then an anti-aircraft missile pierced the night sky and accurately hit the US drone that was performing a mission at low altitude, shooting it down in one fell swoop.
On this day, the U.S. and British forces suffered heavy losses, including the destruction of 1 giant cargo ship and 1 ** reconnaissance drone. In the face of setbacks, they did not rest on their laurels. As night fell, U.S.-British forces launched a fierce search and attack operation in the Jabana area near the port of Hodeidah in Yemen, targeting anti-ship missile and anti-aircraft missile positions.
With the use of cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems, the US military can plan complex routes in just a few seconds, enabling a variety of reconnaissance aircraft of the Navy and Air Force to enter the same area in an orderly manner to carry out military missions. These vehicles are not only capable of exchanging intelligence in real time, but also capable of efficient and coordinated aerial reconnaissance.
The U.S. military's F A-18 "Advanced Super Hornet" fighter is equipped with advanced phased array radar, which can scan the ground with centimeter-level accuracy even at an altitude of 10,000 meters. The powerful on-board AI system on the fighter plane can achieve automatic monitoring, precise positioning, rapid decision-making and decisive action.
The fighting escalated again in the early hours of 20 February. The U.S. military successfully discovered and destroyed an anti-aircraft missile launcher belonging to the Houthis in Yemen, followed by the shooting down of a suicide drone in western Yemen that was preparing to launch an attack.
Despite the powerful offensive of the US-British coalition forces, Yemen's Houthi rebels have put up stubborn resistance by virtue of their unique geographical advantage. Due to the small size of the Red Sea, it was difficult for a large fleet to operate, and only one Aegis ship at a time cautiously sailed into the Red Sea to provide cover for cargo ships.
Although Yemen's Houthis lack advanced reconnaissance aircraft and satellite equipment, they have skillfully exploited the narrow terrain of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the mouth of the Red Sea. They only need to climb the hill and use binoculars to clearly monitor the dynamics of the sea, and accurately record the course, speed and position of the US military, so as to provide accurate combat planning for the surprise attack of anti-ship missiles.
In the latest series of encounters, Yemen's Houthi rebels have shown remarkable combat effectiveness. They managed to damage two American freighters, sink a British freighter, and shoot down a $50 million Global Hawk reconnaissance drone. This series of results fully demonstrated their ability to effectively strike against US troops and Western freighters in the narrow waters of the Red Sea.
In the face of fierce counterattacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, many countries have begun to re-examine the strength of the US aircraft carrier battle group. Although the US military has always boasted of being an invincible soldier and ready to defend the interests of US imperialism, it has faced unprecedented challenges in the confrontation with the Houthis in Yemen.
The results show that the Houthis in Yemen are resilient despite their scarce resources, and they are undaunted by the United States, Britain and France. On the evening of the 19th, in the face of the offensive of the United ** team, the Yemeni Houthis did not hesitate to launch a fierce counterattack.
From 0:00 on February 19 to the early morning of the next day, the US-British-French coalition successfully intercepted and shot down 10 Yemeni Houthi suicide drones in the Red Sea region. In the dark hours before dawn, the US Aegis Raboon accurately intercepted a Yemeni Houthi anti-ship cruise missile flying at high speed; At the same time, the French sea ** boat also successfully shot down two incoming Houthi drones in the southern direction of the Red Sea.
In this short but fierce confrontation, the US, Britain, and France forces destroyed more than a dozen suicide drones of insignificant value, as well as an anti-aircraft missile launcher and an anti-ship missile, and the overall damage is estimated to be no more than one million US dollars. However, Yemen's Houthi rebels have achieved remarkable results, sinking not only a British freighter, but also a US Global Hawk drone worth tens of millions of dollars. In this single night, the United States and Britain suffered economic losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, which was obviously at an absolute disadvantage, allowing the Yemeni Houthis to win a landslide victory.
Some analysts have pointed out that the U.S. military may be able to learn from Russian tactics and set up a blockade zone along the Yemeni coastline, using drones, mines and artillery to force the Yemeni Houthis back into the mountains, so as to prevent them from launching attacks on passing ships. But the reality is that Yemen's Houthi rebels, with more than 200,000 fighters, firmly control the mountainous region of the west and govern the living quarters of tens of millions of people. Even sending U.S. ground troops of the same size into this rugged, semi-arid mountainous region would not be able to effectively encircle and suppress such a large guerrilla force.
What's more, Yemen's Houthi missile and drone strikes have a range of far more than 100 kilometers, and the construction of a blockade belt sufficient to cover the entire conflict zone will require a huge amount of U.S. ground forces. This is tantamount to building a defense line 100 kilometers deep in a vast and complex theater of operations in western Yemen, which is comparable to the war in Afghanistan.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have successfully dragged the United States into the quagmire of the Red Sea conflict, and no matter how the United States, Britain, and France use advanced systems to carry out precision strikes, they will not be able to change the situation in which the United States is passively responding here. It was the United States' abstention in the UN General Assembly that became a key driver of its own deep war of attrition in the Middle East. The little Yemeni Houthis reveal the fact that even a powerful United States can be held back by the intricacies of the Middle East.