2024-01-05 16:46:41
On January 4, barely warned by a group of twelve countries led by the United States, the Houthi rebels [liés à l’Iran] have returned to a mode of operation that they had favored against the coalition which, led by Saudi Arabia, had intervened in Yemen to support President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi between 2015 and 2022. In fact, they attempted a new attack [la vingt-cinquième depuis la mi-novembre] against ships sailing in the Red Sea using a surface drone loaded with explosives.
“A Houthi surface drone exploded in an international maritime corridor. Fortunately, there were no casualties and no ships were hit,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, head of American naval forces in the Middle East. However, he stressed, the use, for the first time, of such a device is “worrying”.
What surface drones [ou USV] traveled approximately 50 nautical miles in busy shipping lanes before exploding for an as yet unknown reason.
“These Houthi attacks are, without doubt, destabilizing and contrary to international law and, as many have said, they clearly must stop immediately,” Admiral Cooper commented. However, he has no illusions about this. “There is no indication that they are going to desist from their irresponsible behavior,” he said.
Until now, the Houthis had mainly used anti-ship missiles and remotely operated munitions [MTO, drone aérien kamikaze] to target commercial vessels they deemed linked to Israeli interests. The use of USVs will therefore pose a new problem for the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition, the creation of which was announced on December 18 by the United States in order to guarantee the security of maritime traffic in the Red Sea.
In January 2017, three USVs loaded with explosives were remotely directed by the Houthis towards a Saudi frigate belonging to the “al-Madinah” class, while it was sailing off the port of Hodeida. Two sailors lost their lives there.
“We can be attacked by maritime surface drones. This occurs fairly regularly north of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the southern Red Sea. This is the work of the Houthi rebellion, which communicates regularly on the subject, and which targets with impressive efficiency the boats of the countries against which it is engaged in Yemen. This threat is therefore very real,” explained, some time later, Admiral Christophe Prazuck, then Chief of Staff of the French Navy.
Countering a USV is not an easy exercise, especially if it comes at full speed towards its target. A cargo ship or an oil tanker can do practically nothing to avoid it… Which means reinforcing their protection with military ships that have the capacity to neutralize such a threat, whether with their artillery. [tourelle de 76 mm pour les frégates françaises, complétée par des canons de 20 mm]or even with anti-ship missiles.
Photo: US Navy naval drone (for illustration purposes) – archive
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