In a new development in Yemen, Houthi rebels have for the first time engaged a U.S. F-16 fighter and an MQ-9 Reaper drone operating in the area with surface-to-air missiles (SAMs.) Neither aircraft was struck.
Houthi rebels for the first time fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at a U.S. F-16 fighter jet on Feb. 19, three senior U.S. defense officials tell Fox News.
The jet was flying off the coast of Yemen over the Red Sea when the SAM was fired. The missile did not strike the jet.
Houthis fired another SAM at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone that the U.S. was flying over Yemen outside Houthi-controlled areas on Feb. 19.
This is the first time the Houthis have fired a SAM missile at an American F16 fighter jet, a significant escalation in the ongoing military interactions between the Iranian-backed group and the U.S. Navy and Air Force, according to senior U.S. defense officials.
The type of missile used is not mentioned, but it's likely a hand-held, shoulder-fired portable missile, like the American Stinger or the old Soviet SA-7. Both are man-portable missiles (MANPADS) and are infrared-guided.
This does represent a significant escalation by the Houthis and, indirectly, by Iran, and was aimed directly at United States forces. Now the Trump administration is considering how to reply:
Now there is a policy debate at the highest levels of the U.S. military about what is the best way to counter the Houthis, which the Trump administration has put back on the State Department’s terror list.
The debate now is whether to carry out a more traditional counterterrorism approach to the Houthis, with persistent strikes targeting the individuals planning and carrying out the ongoing attacks, or whether to take a more defensive approach and keep going after Houthi infrastructure and weapons-storage facilities.
If the former is the case, we would rely on the United States' vast technological advantages over the Houthis. There is a certain advantage in these operations to, as the saying goes, "cutting off the head of the snake."
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The Navy has been engaged by missiles fired by the Houthis against American ships operating in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. All of those missiles have been intercepted — so far. There may be an upcoming logistics issue; the SM-2 and SM-3 missiles used by the Navy to counter these attacks are expensive, and the American weapons inventory is not a cornucopia; there are a limited number of these weapons available.
It would seem advisable to not let this thing drag on, which would argue for a kinetic approach — cutting off the head of the snake. Given the American technological advantage, that wouldn't necessarily mean putting any boots on the ground, which would likely descend into a quagmire.
As always, though, everything comes back to Iran. While it's not yet clear where the Houthi rebels obtained SAMs, Iran has been supporting them logistically. Every conflict in this part of the world, in one way or another, can be traced back to Iran. Iran is the wellspring, and until there is a major change in Iran, the challenge for the Western nations will be dealing with the continual game of military Whack-a-Mole that Iran is sponsoring.