Inspired by Iran, the Houthi military forces have obtained the technology to manufacture anti-ship ballistic missiles.
Iran’s first homegrown naval ballistic missile, called ‘Qadr’, was developed by late Iranian commander Brigadier General Hassan Tehrani-Moqaddam more than a decade ago.
Iran’s technical know-how to produce such anti-ship missiles is now at the disposal of the Houthi military forces.
Patterned after the Iranian missile, the Houthis ‘Muhit’ (Ocean) missile is capable of detonating naval targets.
The Houthi Army has been in possession of surface-to-air missiles for many years. After the invasion of Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition in March 2015, the Yemeni forces converted the SAMs into surface-to-surface missiles, known as Qaher-2 and Qaher-2M, which carried out many successful operations against hostile targets.
The Ansarullah (Houthi) forces have also unveiled an anti-ship version of the Qaher missile in military parades. Like the Iranian Qadr, Yemen’s Muhit missile is equipped with an optical seeker that can home in on hostile warships.
It indicates that Iran has acted successfully in supporting the resistance front across the region. Iran has empowered the resistance groups by providing them with modern technologies. Such policy has led to the formation of an integrated command and control center in the region, specifically in the drone and missile sectors.