Three weeks have passed since the arrival of the second US aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson in the area of responsibility of US Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Arabian Sea.
Wasting no time, it immediately joined the battle against the Houthi group in Yemen, with its combat squadrons flying daily on complex missions and highlighting exceptional readiness at both the crew and equipment levels.
The Houthis now find themselves facing two US aircraft carriers along with their accompanying strike groups. To put this into perspective, this represents nearly a third of the force that participated in Operation Desert Storm against the Iraqi Army in 2003, one of the world’s largest at the time.
The Houthis are an Iranian-backed militia whose fighters are of a tribal nature, lacking most military education in planning or execution. They rely on guerrilla warfare, but behind them are their patrons who use them to test weapons and achieve geopolitical gains at the expense of innocent Yemenis who do not want the war.
According to the US network CNN, “the US has launched more than 300 air strikes since the campaign [against the Houthis] began on March 15.” The strikes have forced the Houthis to stay underground and left them in a “confused and disarrayed state” after 650 Houthi causalities and many others killed.
Over the course of six weeks since 15 March, 300 air strikes have been carried out, averaging at least 40 strikes weekly, or roughly six multi-target missions per week.
This highlights the extent of the US aerial campaign to neutralise the Houthi threat in Yemen. The sophistication of the munitions used is evident, ranging from GBU-31 guided bombs to AGM-154 stealth missiles, and even NATO’s most advanced precision anti-armour bombs, the GBU-53.
CENTCOM Spokesperson Dave Eastburn said on 24 April that it had struck over 800 Houthi targets, including command-and-control sites, air defence systems, and advanced weapons production sites, since the start of the US air campaign.
This has significantly impacted the Houthi arsenal. Houthi ballistic missile launches have decreased by 87 per cent, and drone attacks have decreased by 65 per cent since the beginning of the air strike campaign.
The US official told CNN that “over the last six weeks, the Houthis have launched 77 one-way attack drones, 30 cruise missiles, 24 medium-range ballistic missiles, and 23 surface-to-air missiles either at US forces, into the Red Sea, or at Israel.”
Another source told the news agency AP that “three of the drones were shot down in the past week, suggesting the militants’ targeting of the unmanned aircraft flying over Yemen has improved. The drones were doing attack runs or conducting surveillance, and they crashed both into the water and onto land.”
This brings the total number of Reaper drones shot down to seven, with these being worth more than $200 million.
The drones are considered the best in their category due to their ability to perform various intelligence reconnaissance, surveillance, and tracking operations, as well as precise targeting missions.
Drones of this type were responsible for the assassination of Iranian military leader Qassem Suleimani in Iraq, in 2020.
The US does not have boots on the ground in Yemen, so it relies on overhead surveillance, much of it from MQ9s, to conduct battlefield damage assessments and track terrorists, the US official said.
Typically, US drones are launched from Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti to support the air campaign by assessing strike results and confirming target destruction. They are usually equipped with pods for protection against radar-guided missiles, which the Houthis have few of.
The Houthis primarily rely on locally made short-and medium-range heat-seeking missile systems, which proved effective during the Arab Coalition’s air campaign in Yemen in 2015.
However, these systems generally lack medium-and long-range detection capabilities, so they are often supplemented with new radar systems recently acquired through smuggling operations from Iran.
The issue of tracking and downing drones, alongside the continued missile launches by the Houthis, also indicates that the Houthis still possess the ability to command and control attacks as well as a significant stockpile of ammunition.
This is being used daily, albeit in limited quantities, to sustain field impacts, even if with reduced combat effectiveness, despite all the US efforts.
The reason for the limited success, despite the advances in Houthi ammunition, is that three defensive lines have been established to protect Israel. These consist of air-defence systems from US destroyers, advanced air-defence systems like the THAAD and Patriot MSE, and Israeli Air Defences.
However, Israeli aircraft have not yet intervened in the US aerial campaign in Yemen. This has not stopped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from threatening the Houthis with a major strike.
The New York Times has reported that the positioning of two US strike carrier groups off the coast of Yemen has a daily operating cost of about $6.5 million each. The use of B-2 bombers cost about $90,000 per hour, with these carrying out the air strikes.
In addition, the US Navy is launching interceptor missiles at a cost of up to $2 million per missile to intercept Houthi missiles, which cost only a few thousand dollars. The total cost of the US Navy’s military operation may reach $2 billion by May. In addition to an F/A-18 that slid off the deck while the USS Harry Truman was evading a Houthi attack which costs nearly 60 milion dollars.
Houthi spokespersons continue to announce fictitious successes for local consumption, while also declaring the continuation of the battle against shipping in the Red Sea.
Amid clear US concerns about Chinese support for the Houthis, the US State Department has accused a Chinese company specialising in satellite technology of providing direct intelligence support to the Houthis.
This support allegedly involved supplying them with images and information that helped them target US ships in the Red Sea.
The accusation coincided with a US airstrike targeting strategic facilities belonging to the Houthis at the port of Ras Isa in western Yemen. The strike is considered one of the most impactful operations in terms of its objectives, as the port serves as a vital source of funding for the Houthis.
US Central Command confirmed the operation, stating that its goal was to cripple the Houthis’ ability to finance their military operations.
All these developments in the Red Sea indicate a cycle of US attempts to neutralise the Houthi threat from the air without using ground operations in a repetition of the earlier Arab Coalition’s campaign.
They come amidst numerous rumours, later denied, claiming that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are preparing to engage in a ground operation against the Houthis by supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
The Houthis have planted mines outside the city of Al-Hudaydah and in civilian residential areas, while sending additional reinforcements to the front lines in an attempt to obstruct any ground assault.
The story does not end here. US plans to neutralise the Houthi threat are ongoing and precise, but they lack secrecy.
The New York Times has reported that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth created another Signal chat group that included his wife and brother. In this group, he shared details of the March military raid against the Houthis, which were also sent in another chain to senior figures in the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, the outcomes of the negotiations between the US and Iran are expected to reshape many of the features of the wider situation in the Middle East that has been in place for decades.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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