Harrison Kass – National Interest May 16, 2025
Two U.S. Marine F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters complete vertical landings aboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1) during operational testing May 18, 2015. Click to enlarge
According to new reporting from the New York Times, a Houthi surface-to-air (SAM) missile barely missed an American F-35 fifth-generation fighter, the crown jewel of the U.S. fighter inventory. The F-35, participating in Operation Rough Rider against the Houthis, was forced to take evasive action to avoid the missile.
The incident raises questions about the survivability of one of America’s most advanced fighters, and raises concerns over how effective the relatively unsophisticated Houthi air defense system has been at hampering U.S. action.
“Several American F-16s and an F-35 fighter jet were nearly struck by Houthi air defenses, making real the possibility of American casualties,” military analyst Gregory Brew posted on X, adding that the Houthis were successful in shooting down “seven American MQ-9 drones (around $30 million each), hampering Central Command’s ability to track and strike the militant group.”
So, just how vulnerable are American fighters to the Houthis’s air defense system?
Houthi Missile Defenses Are Simple but Effective
The Houthi air defense system is rudimentary. However, it is highly mobile—meaning the defense systems can pop up just about anywhere, making them unpredictable and hard to plan around. Moreover, the simplistic nature of the systems also helps them to avoid earlier detection by America’s advanced equipment. “Many of the [SAMs] are also improvised, leveraging non-traditional passive infrared sensors and jury-rigged air-to-air missiles that provide little to no early warning of a threat, let alone an incoming attack,” The War Zone reported.
The Houthis also possess some modern systems, courtesy of Iran, like the Barq-1 and Barq-2 SAMs. The exact capabilities of the Iranian SAMs are unclear, but the Houthis claim that the Barq-1 and Barq-2 have maximum ranges of 31 miles and 44 miles and can engage targets at altitudes of 49,000 feet and 65,000 feet, respectively. The Barq systems are understood to be based on the Iranian Taer family of missiles, which themselves are derivative of the Soviet-era SA-6 and SA-11 air defense systems.
“How the Houthis employ Barq-1 and Barq-2 is not entirely clear, but Taer missiles in Iranian service are fired from various wheeled launchers, some of which have their own integrated fire control radars,” The War Zone reported. “Some of Iran’s air defense systems capable of firing Taer variants also reportedly have electro-optical and/or infrared camera to aid in target acquisition, identification, and tracking.”
The Near-Miss Is a Bad Omen for Great Power Conflict
The near miss between the U.S. F-35 and the Houthi SAM raises bigger questions about bigger conflicts. Namely, if a backwards rebel group is successfully disrupting U.S. air operations in the air space above Yemen, how can the U.S. expect to conduct effective air operations in air space where a more sophisticated adversary is present? And if the F-35, a fifth-generation stealth fighter with an ultra-low radar cross section (RCS), is vulnerable to Cold War-era SAM defenses, how will the F-35 (or the rest of the U.S. fleet) fare against modern air defense systems?
What seems certain is that in the air, as on the ground, possessing more expensive, more advanced systems does not guarantee free-access or uninterrupted success. Low-tech systems can reliably hinder the efficacy of high-tech systems.
All nations on earth are just pawns in a cosmic chess game. You can bet your last federal reserve note that the hijacked territory called the United States possesses far more sophisticated and lethal weaponry than the F-35 fighter plane. They are obfuscated from general knowledge under layers of classified restrictions. There are levels of security clearances that a U.S. President is not privy to. The people (if you want to call them that) who are have nothing but contempt for elected officials. (I don’t blame them). For all of its carnage, what you are witnessing is just theater.
Tod Dem Juden
they’re effeminate cowardly inbred twats..they will squeal & run away if confronted..
they depend on guile, psy ops & any deception possibble..pogrom their shit filled skulls in &
Job Done
The F-35 hasn’t proved itself a superior aircraft and cannot do until it goes up against and beats other jet fighters from Russia, Sweden, the UK and now China. Even if it does beat those aircraft it can fail to get airborne so it’s not always an aircraft, it’s sometimes just a deadweight. That’s not greatness.
LOL…
The Hooters don’t play by their rules..which makes them a formidable adversary…Russkies and Iranians are half in with the yankee despot because they are run by lol ‘internationalist’ oligarchs with financial interests..
and they make deals to keep rat run supply lines buoyant and profitable…that’s why the Orange Golem and all its satrapy’s are obsessed with sanctions and lol GDP…
war’s a racket..
they are actually hitting individuals to exert some pressure…on the profit structures..and bring them round to their financial vultures way of thinking..
The hooters are a tribal familial cult with access to Iranian tek…they do what the men in dresses can’t… and that’s because they wage war for religious ideological reasonings without finacial consideration.. and probably have large balls and enjoy blowing up jewes and yankees and limeys…
and of course it’s bad optics slaughtering women and children in gaza (70% of the casualties) and calling it hehe, war…
If you disagree look how quickly the vaunted Hezbullers folded..under some swizzler cover story and then Syria folds like a cheap suit… money changed hands me old mucker…
Urgent adder warning issued: Are the snakes in London and how dangerous are they?
Story by Sian Baldwin •
They are not snakes but politicians and yes
they look a bit like snakes
and are actually very dangerous
This signals the end of airpower in its current form. This is a major power shift, and a crushing blow to Western militaries which are primarily configured to project power via the air, including naval forces. 13 billion dollars on Ford class carriers which are already obsolete. Groan!
LMF’35’AO!!!! 🤣
“Operation Rough Rider”… 🙄
Sounds like a posse of Humpin’ Homos! 🤣
BS. the ‘houthis’ don’t even exist & if they do, they’re a cia-mossad-kgb operation
Conventional aircraft are going the way of the battleship, aircraft carrier, and soon, the submarine. Robot war is the future.
WELL DONE HOUTHIS
Cambridge college cuts ties with israeli arms firms after Gaza protests
Story by Poppy Wood, Felix Armstrong,
University of Cambridge college has announced it will divest from arms companies after long-running student protests over the war on the people of Gaza.
Tuesday, King’s College said it would cut its financial ties with defence firms to “align our approach to investments with the values of our community, not genocide”. spokesman said the decision was “prompted by the occupation of Palestinian territories”, and was made following advice from “external experts”.
it is the first Oxbridge college to announce that it will divest from firms linked to the production of military equipment following a wave of student protests following the outbreak of the mass murders in the Middle East.
King’s College has been the epicentre of recent protest activity at Cambridge, with students holding a 100-day encampment on the lawn outside its main building on King’s Parade last year.
In an email to students, Dr Gillian Tett, the college’s provost, said its governing body had voted on Monday night to divest from any companies that are “involved in activities generally recognised as illegal or contravening global norms, such as occupation”.
The move will also see King’s College axe financial links with organisations that “are linked to terrorism
I’d think a kid with a pea-shooter would prove “problematic” for an F-35! 🤣
Winston Smith=👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻