Houthis continue attacks on Red Sea and Israel, but what and how many weapons they have in their arsenal?

India.com

07-07-2025

New Delhi: The Houthi rebels have some long-range missiles and drones, which are capable of carrying out sporadic attacks on Israel. Some of their missiles, such as Palestine-2, can challenge Israel's defense systems, but their limited numbers, outdated technology and economic weakness make them unable to hold out against Israel for long.
The Houthi rebels, officially known as Ansar Allah, are an Iran-backed armed group in Yemen that controls large parts of northern and western Yemen. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, the Houthi rebels have carried out missile and drone attacks on Israel. The question is, do they have enough weapons to face a militarily powerful country like Israel? What weapons do Houthis have?
The weapons arsenal of Houthi rebels depends mainly on the support received from Iran, as well as to some extent from countries like North Korea and Russia. Their military capability includes missiles, drones and other weapons. Their weapons include Ballistic missiles
Toufan: It is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of about 1800 km. It is a variant of Iran's Gadr missile.
Zulfiqar: It is a type of Scud missile with a range of 1400 km. Its range has been extended to 2000 km, allowing it to reach Israel.
Quds-2: This missile is specially designed to target Israel, with a range of 1350 km.
Palestine-2: Houthis claim that it is a hypersonic missile. Its range is 2150 km and the speed is 16 times that of sound. Experts believe that this is an exaggerated claim, because only a few countries (such as America, Russia, China) have hypersonic technology.
Other missiles: Houthi rebels also have missiles like Scud-B, Scud-C, Hwasong, Tochka, Qaher-1 and Zelzal-3, mostly acquired from the Yemeni army or received from Iran. Cruise missiles
Houthi rebels have Iran's Soumar family of cruise missiles, with a range of about 2000 km. These missiles are capable of striking as far as Israel.
The Houthi rebels have C-802 anti-ship cruise missiles and possibly Russian-made P-800 Oniks missiles, obtained through Iran and Syria. These missiles are mainly used for maritime attacks in the Red Sea. Drones (UAVs)
Samad-3 and Samad-4: These are long-range loitering munitions (suicide drones) with a range of 1800 km or more. They are similar to Iran's Shahed drones and have been used in attacks on Israel, such as the July 2024 attack on Tel Aviv.
Wa'id drones: These are similar to Iran's Shahed-136 drones, with a range of 2500 km.
Naval Drones: 7-meter-long explosive-laden Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), which are used for maritime attacks in the Red Sea. Air defense systems
Surface-to-air missiles (SAMs): Houthi rebels have Iran-made '358' and possibly '359' loitering SAMs, which have a range of 150 km, speed 1,000 km/h, and altitude 30,000 feet. '359' has a parachute recovery facility, allowing it to be reused. These systems have shot down about 20 US MQ-9 Reaper drones, indicating their air defense capability.
Older systems: The Houthis also have modern Chinese or Iranian-made shoulder-fired, heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles, the latter of which was seized by the US Navy in 2013. Other weapons
Artillery rockets and small arms: The Houthis have thousands of AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 0.50-caliber machine guns, mostly acquired from Iran or seized from the Yemeni military.
The Houthis claim to produce most of their weapons locally, but experts believe this is unlikely without technical assistance and smuggling of parts from Iran. Limitations of Houthi rebels' military capability
Although the Houthi rebels have some advanced weapons, their military capability is limited in many ways. There are about 20-30 thousand fighters. According to Israeli estimates, the Houthi rebels have only a few dozen ballistic missiles and launchers, which are not enough for repeated attacks.
Their weapons are old or affected by lack of maintenance. Also, there is a lack of trained personnel to handle advanced weapons. Yemen's economy is weak due to the civil war, due to which the Houthi rebels have difficulty in supplying and maintaining weapons.
The Houthi rebels are completely dependent on Iran for weapons and technical assistance, due to which their autonomy is limited. The Houthi rebels have a limited number of weapons and resources. They have only a few dozen missiles and launchers.