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  4.  » Yemeni armed forces successfully test hypersonic missile with high destructive capability

Pictured above: Iran’s Fattah-2 hypersonic missile. Although the Houthi claim to have developed the hypersonic missiles themselves, they undoubtedly received extensive Iranian assistance, and maybe even used a slightly modified Iranian missile. Either way the deployment of such weapons around the Red Sea could transform the situation there and maybe even lead to western military intervention in Yemen. Ed.

Press TV – March 14, 2024

Yemeni armed forces have successfully tested a hypersonic missile with high destructive capability, amid escalating tensions over the targeting of Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea.

The missile can reach speeds of up to Mach 8 (6,200 miles per hour) and is powered by solid fuel, an unnamed military source told Russia’s Sputnik news agency on Thursday.

“Yemen plans to begin manufacturing it for use in attacks in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel,” the source added.

The source went on to say that following months of testing, Yemeni forces have also upgraded their missiles and drones to carry warheads of twice the explosive power as what it had in its arsenal.

The latest development comes a week after Yemen’s Ansarullah leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said new weapons were used in the recent operations in the Red Sea which surprised the American and the British, warning, “What comes next will be greater in every sense of the word.”

Yemen’s Defense Minister Major General Mohammad Nasser al-Atifi, also stated last week, “The Armed Forces have many cards they have not yet played.”

Yemeni forces have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden in support of Palestinians.

They say the operations will continue unless Israel stops its war on the besieged Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since early October.

The maritime attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Yemen’s armed forces have also added US and British assets to their list of legitimate targets after the two countries began targeting Yemen from the air and sea in early January in support of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Source

Commentary – March 14, 2024

Although Iran has obviously assisted Yemen in developing this missile, the Houthi are not using an exact replica of Iran’s Fattah-2 hypersonic missile.

That’s because Iran’s latest hypersonic missile has a maximum speed of Mach 15, or 15 times the speed of sound, while the Yemeni missile only managed to reach a speed of Mach 8.

Nonetheless, it is still a notable achievement. Especially when one considers that Yemen is one of the poorest and least developed nations on earth.

Moreover, Yemen’s claimed successful test of a hypersonic weapon is made even more remarkable given that the US has yet to successfully test any such comparable weapon.

The deployment of hypersonic weapons in and around the Red Sea could spell a whole new chapter in the West’s face-off with Iran. That’s because Western navies don’t have the weapons to effectively counter hypersonic missiles.

So if the West wants to keep Israel’s only Red Sea port of Eilat open to shipping, the US and UK may have to consider large-scale military intervention in Yemen. Ed.