How Houthis gained enough firepower to be major military player
The Houthi rebels ' missile advances have created a “global threat” with a military might that far outstrips many modern armies, experts have told The National . For more than a decade the Iran-backed Houthis have been building up their aerial arsenal. They have assembled an inventory of attack drones, long-range ballistic rockets , anti-ship cruise missiles and kamikaze speedboats. The arsenal…
The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have amassed a significant arsenal of weaponry that grants them considerable military power, according to experts. Over the past decade, they have steadily expanded their arsenal to include drones, long-range ballistic rockets, anti-ship cruise missiles, and even kamikaze speedboats. While the exact size of their inventory remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from fewer than 1,000 drones to several hundred ballistic missiles, this arsenal is powerful enough to impact global energy trade through the Red Sea's Bab Al Mandeb strait.
Despite suffering setbacks in 2025, including US and Israeli attacks on their weapons sites and leaders, the group's expertise in building, targeting, and striking remains intact. Recent developments, such as Iranian engineers and components, primarily sourced from China, have enabled Houthi engineers to assemble their own rockets using smuggled components.
This has allowed the group to construct a diverse arsenal ranging from basic projectiles to sophisticated long-range missiles, including Iran's Palestine 2 hypersonic missile. Additionally, the Houthis have increased their production of anti-ship cruise missiles, such as the Quds series, and developed advanced drone capabilities, including the Samad and Qasef series of kamikaze long-range strike models.
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