Stories
How Yemen's Houthis Are Striking Saudi Arabia With Advanced Weapons
- •Houthi militants controlling northwestern Yemen have recently launched successful air assaults targeting Riyadh International Airport and Saudi Aramco's headquarters.
- •Experts attribute Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to Iranian assistance that enabled the Houthis to achieve near self-sufficiency in producing advanced drones and missiles.
- •The Houthis have diversified their supply chains by sourcing commercial parts from countries like China and utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance weapon effectiveness.
- •Air defenses in Saudi Arabia have been strained and depleted due to ongoing regional conflicts and heavy reliance on missile interceptors.
Key Questions Answered
Iran has provided weapons, money, and training to the Houthis for over a decade, helping them build an indigenous military-industrial process to assemble drones and missiles. Additionally, the Houthis have attempted to make advanced medium-range ballistic missiles using parts from China and experimented with artificial intelligence software to guide rockets.
Saudi Arabia's vulnerability is attributed to a combination of factors, including Tehran's assistance in making the Houthis nearly self-sufficient in weapon production, depleted US missile interceptor stocks following the war on Iran, and Saudi Arabia's large geographical size which makes defending against air attacks harder.
Houthi militants have recently attacked Riyadh International Airport and hit the headquarters of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran using air assaults involving missiles and drones.
