The First Declared Use of Hypersonic Missiles by Yemen's Houthis

The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group has launched what it called a hypersonic missile on a ship in the Arabian Sea for the first time. This announcement came two months and a half after the Houthi authorities declared a successful test of firing such a kind of missile.

The Houthi armed forces yesterday, June 26, 2024, said that a hypersonic missile named Hatem 2 targeted an “Israeli ship” in the Arabian Sea, indicating this weapon is being revealed for the first time.

According to the Houthi statement, “the missile runs on solid fuel, has an intelligent control system, is capable of maneuvering, has … different ranges, and was manufactured by the Yemeni Military Industrialization Corporation.”

The Houthis released a video showing the missile launch without disclosing the exact timing of the attack. The missile was fired from a mobile platform in an unidentified desert location.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement that the missile that targeted the Israeli ship MSC SARAH V “is a locally made hypersonic one” that possesses advanced technology and is accurate in hitting targets at long ranges.

However, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Joint Maritime Information Center on Monday said the Liberian-flagged vessel was targeted by a missile in the Arabian Sea but was not hit.

In March this year, the Russian Novosti news agency quoted a military source close to the Houthi group, saying that the group has tested a hypersonic missile amid its continued preparation for a long war with the American and British forces in the Red Sea.

The source said that the Houthi forces had tested a missile, which he said was operating on solid fuel, and that its speed was Mach 8 (about 10,000 kilometers per hour).

Informed sources told Sheba Intelligence in January this year that the Houthi group had obtained 300 Russian-made naval missiles.

The sources did not specify how these missiles arrived, whether directly from their Russian exporter or through smuggling with support from Iran.

An investigation by the Sheba Intelligence revealed that only Russia, China, and North Korea have hypersonic missiles. The investigation suggested that the Houthis obtained Russian anti-ship missiles that are close to hypersonic missiles in speed. According to the investigation, the accuracy of such a type of missile can cause damage to American and British battleships and aircraft carriers.

In November 2023, a member of the Supreme Political Council, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, threatened, in an interview with the BBC, to use hypersonic missiles to target Israel.

Hypersonic missiles were first announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, when he confirmed that new weapons had been added to the Russian arsenal, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

The first reported use occurred in the Russia-Ukraine war on March 18, 2022.