Houthis Modified Iranian Air Defence Into Cruise Missiles: Yemen — SkimNews
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- Yemen's government alleged that Houthis, aided by the IRGC, modified Iranian air defence weapons into loitering cruise missiles that loiter for up to 25 minutes and attack any heat source without distinguishing civilian from military aircraft.
- Saudi Arabia said it intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at Taif and the Yanbu port area on the Red Sea on Thursday; Houthis claimed they also struck Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu using ballistic and cruise missiles plus drones.
- Houthis have seized the Red Sea coast along with Mocha and Mayyun Island in the Bab al-Mandeb strait since fighting reignited after the 2022 UN-brokered ceasefire, and in July declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.
- Anthropic identified a weapons-development cell in northern Yemen reportedly linked to the Houthis that used its Claude AI to develop guidance, navigation and control software for a guided rocket and several missile programmes.
- Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, which carries oil from eastern oilfields to the Yanbu Red Sea port, is only just restarting after damage from a drone attack this month, with the Red Sea now a critical export alternative since the Strait of Hormuz closure.
- Houthi arsenal includes the Palestine-2 (claimed hypersonic, 2,000+ km range), the Toufan (1,350–1,950 km, assessed as a rebranded Iranian Ghadr), Burkan and Quds series, plus modified older Soviet- and Chinese-designed missiles.
Why it matters: Loitering munitions that cannot distinguish civilian from military heat signatures put commercial flights over Saudi Arabia — where Ahmad noted there is real air traffic — at risk at a moment when Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline has just resumed, making the Red Sea corridor its lifeline. Saudi and Yemeni officials are explicitly tying this to Iranian threats against regional aviation following US sanctions on Iranian airlines, raising the prospect of a widened air-space crisis that non-state actors in Yemen could exploit.
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