{"id":28009102,"date":"2026-10-14T11:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T09:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/?p=28009102"},"modified":"2026-10-14T11:46:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T09:46:31","slug":"why-houthis-hard-to-defeat-air-power-seven-reasons-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fr\/why-houthis-hard-to-defeat-air-power-seven-reasons-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Houthis Are So Hard to Defeat From the Air: Seven Reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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On 10 October a ballistic missile hit terminals 3 and 4 at <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/riyadh-airport-attack-12-killed-king-khalid-terminals-october-2026\/\">Riyadh&rsquo;s King Khalid International Airport<\/a>, killing at least 13 people. Saudi investigators say drones went in first to clear a path for cruise and ballistic missiles. Two days later missiles were intercepted over Riyadh and over <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/houthi-ballistic-missiles-khamis-mushait-king-khalid-air-base-2026\/\">Khamis Mushait<\/a>, home of the Royal Saudi Air Force&rsquo;s F-15s, and on 13 October the coalition struck fuel and oil sites in Sanaa, Ras Isa and Hodeidah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is the same pattern Yemen has seen for more than a decade. The Houthis, formally Ansar Allah, have been bombed by Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. They still hold Sanaa and most of Yemen&rsquo;s population, and this year they have pushed south along the Red Sea coast. Here are seven reasons why, drawn from the UN&rsquo;s Panel of Experts on Yemen, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Chatham House and the analysts who follow the movement most closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-left:4px solid #1a1a1a;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li><strong>Saudi-led air campaign:<\/strong> 25,054 air raids between March 2015 and the April 2022 truce (Yemen Data Project)<\/li><li><strong>US and UK strikes:<\/strong> Operation Poseidon Archer from 11&ndash;12 January 2024, including B-2 strikes on underground depots in October 2024<\/li><li><strong>Operation Rough Rider:<\/strong> US campaign, 15 March to 6 May 2025: more than 1,000 targets struck<\/li><li><strong>US losses in 2025:<\/strong> Seven MQ-9 Reapers and two F\/A-18 Super Hornets lost from USS Harry S. Truman<\/li><li><strong>Israeli strikes:<\/strong> Hodeidah port from July 2024; Sanaa airport disabled May 2025; Houthi prime minister killed August 2025<\/li><li><strong>2026 escalation:<\/strong> Fighting with Saudi Arabia since July; Riyadh airport hit repeatedly in September and October<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;The Houthis have been bombed tens of thousands of times over the past decade and remain undeterred.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Elisabeth Kendall<\/strong> &mdash; Yemen specialist and Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, to CNN, April 2025<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">1. They Build Much of Their Own Arsenal<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Houthis no longer depend on whole weapons arriving by sea. They assemble drones and missiles in Yemen from imported parts, which are smaller and easier to smuggle. The UN Panel of Experts called the outside support the group receives &ldquo;unprecedented&rdquo; and found seized components with markings &ldquo;similar to those produced outside Yemen, especially in the Islamic Republic of Iran&rdquo;. A dhow stopped on 11 January 2024 was carrying parts for Ghadir-type cruise missiles. Commercial parts come from elsewhere too: at the UN Security Council in July 2026 the United States said more than 70 percent of seized dual-use items had come from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That makes bombing factories a temporary fix. Destroy a workshop and the next shipment of engines, guidance boards and fuel can rebuild it somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Things that took the Lebanese Hezbollah 20 years to develop, the Houthis have developed in five.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Michael Knights<\/strong> &mdash; senior fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to the Associated Press, 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/houthi-qasef-1-drone-recovered-yemen-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Houthi Qasef-1 drone recovered in Yemen and displayed by the US Department of Defense\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Houthi Qasef-1 one-way attack drone recovered in Yemen and put on display by the US Department of Defense. Photo: DoD \/ EJ Hersom, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">2. Their Most Valuable Assets Are Underground<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024 the IISS used satellite imagery to document new and larger underground military facilities, including sites in Saada and at Jabal Attan near Sanaa. Its missile analyst Fabian Hinz described the Houthis as &ldquo;making a substantial investment on underground facilities&rdquo;. In October 2024 the United States sent B-2 stealth bombers to hit five hardened underground weapons depots, a sign of how hard such targets are for ordinary strike aircraft. Launchers are mobile and can be hidden in tunnels or among buildings. Chatham House expected that under renewed pressure the Houthis would &ldquo;again make use of Yemen&rsquo;s mountainous terrain to go underground and hide&rdquo;.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">3. Every Attack Costs the Defender More<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Houthis fight with cheap weapons against expensive defences. A one-way attack drone can cost around a thousandth of the naval interceptor sent to shoot it down. In the Red Sea the US Navy fired hundreds of Standard Missiles from late 2023, and in 2026 the strain has shifted to Patriot batteries in Saudi Arabia, reinforced by a Greek Patriot unit at Yanbu, <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/france-air-defence-yanbu-saudi-arabia-macron-2026\/\">French air defences<\/a> and an <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/raf-voyager-tanker-saudi-arabia-houthi-air-defence-2026\/\">RAF Voyager tanker<\/a>. The Riyadh attack showed the method: a wave of drones to saturate the defences, then missiles behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/uss-carney-engages-houthi-missiles-red-sea-2023-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"USS Carney firing interceptors at Houthi missiles and drones in the Red Sea, 19 October 2023\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">USS Carney engages Houthi missiles and drones in the Red Sea on 19 October 2023, one of the first actions of the Red Sea crisis. Photo: US Navy, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;The renewed and much more expansive US air and naval strikes are unlikely to deter the Houthis.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Farea al-Muslimi and Thomas Juneau<\/strong> &mdash; Chatham House, March 2025<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9rV62RaEo58\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">4. They Fight on Home Ground<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The movement&rsquo;s heartland is Saada province and the northern highlands, steep mountain country close to the Saudi border. The fighters are drawn from tribes that have fought there for generations, and the Saudi-led war, the blockade and the famine that followed it produced a nationalist backlash the Houthis have exploited. Their support is strong in the north, though they are far from popular across all of Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re ideological, but they&rsquo;re also very tough tribal fighters from northern Yemen.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Michael Knights<\/strong> &mdash; Washington Institute, to CNN, April 2025<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/razeh-mountains-saada-yemen-houthi-heartland-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Mountains of Razeh district in Saada province, northern Yemen\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The mountains of Razeh district in Saada province, the Houthi heartland on the Saudi border. Photo: Julien Harneis, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">5. A Centralised, Closed Organisation<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Decisions are taken by a small leadership around Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and carried out quickly. Opposition is suppressed. The organisation is also hard to see into, which matters for any campaign that depends on targeting intelligence. The group funds itself at home: the UN Panel found that fuel customs duties alone brought in about 994 billion Yemeni rials between April 2022 and June 2024, and that a committee had been set up to raise customs, taxes and telecom charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Their opaque leadership and internal structure have created persistent gaps in intelligence.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Ahmed Nagi<\/strong> &mdash; senior Yemen analyst, International Crisis Group, to CNN, April 2025<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">6. Their Enemies Are Divided<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The forces lined up against the Houthis have rarely pulled in one direction. The internationally recognised government is weak; Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates backed different factions; and the UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council wanted an independent south. Those rifts broke open in December 2025, when STC forces seized Hadramawt and Mahra and Saudi Arabia struck Mukalla. The UAE completed its withdrawal in January 2026. Washington, too, has been reluctant to commit: in September 2026 President Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/houthi-strikes-called-off-trump-yemen-september-2026\/\">called off planned US strikes<\/a> despite a Saudi request, and the United States has limited itself to intelligence and planning support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It is fragmented, it&rsquo;s weak, it&rsquo;s disunited, it&rsquo;s corrupt.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Thomas Juneau<\/strong> &mdash; University of Ottawa, on Yemen&rsquo;s government, to the Associated Press, 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">7. War Holds the Movement Together<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the Houthi leadership, conflict is not only a cost. Standing up to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States gives the movement legitimacy and a reason to mobilise. The UN Panel reported a recruitment drive built on the war in Gaza; Yemeni officials claimed the number of fighters had grown from about 30,000 in 2015 to 350,000, a figure the Panel could not verify. Political scientist Elham Manea of the University of Zurich told Swiss broadcaster SRF that, at home, the attacks are &ldquo;about mobilisation&rdquo;. In quiet periods, the weakness of Houthi administration becomes harder to hide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iD1qp07_uHw\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Air Power Has and Has Not Done<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The strikes have not been useless. Coalition, American and Israeli raids have destroyed drone and missile stocks, damaged ports and fuel infrastructure, killed senior figures and, in May 2025, pushed the Houthis into an Oman-brokered deal to stop attacking US ships. But none of the campaigns delivered the decisive result their planners hoped for. Operation Rough Rider struck more than 1,000 targets in seven weeks and cost the US Navy two Super Hornets and the Air Force seven Reapers; within a year the Houthis were hitting Riyadh airport and advancing on the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lesson analysts draw is that air power can degrade the Houthis but cannot defeat them alone. That would take a credible ground force, a united opposition and a political settlement, three things Yemen has lacked since 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;The Houthis are just inured to being at war with a first world military.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Michael Knights<\/strong> &mdash; Washington Institute, to CNN, April 2025<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, final report S\/2024\/731; IISS, &ldquo;Yemen&rsquo;s Houthis are going underground&rdquo; (April 2024); Chatham House (March 2025); Yemen Data Project; US Central Command; Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine; NBC News; The War Zone; Associated Press; Reuters; BBC; Al Jazeera; CNN; ACLED; Stimson Center; Sana&rsquo;a Center for Strategic Studies; SRF; Wilson Center.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Why are the Houthis so hard to defeat?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Houthis are hard to defeat because they produce much of their own arsenal from imported parts, hide key assets underground in mountainous terrain, use cheap drones and missiles that cost far less than the interceptors used against them, have deep roots in northern Yemen, run a centralised and opaque organisation, face divided opponents, and use war itself to mobilise support.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many airstrikes has Yemen been hit by?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Yemen Data Project recorded 25,054 Saudi-led coalition air raids between March 2015 and the April 2022 truce. The United States and United Kingdom struck Houthi targets from January 2024, the US Operation Rough Rider hit more than 1,000 targets between 15 March and 6 May 2025, and Israel has struck Hodeidah and Sanaa since July 2024.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was Operation Rough Rider?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Operation Rough Rider was the US air and naval campaign against the Houthis from 15 March to 6 May 2025. US Central Command said it struck more than 1,000 targets. The US lost seven MQ-9 Reaper drones and two F\/A-18 Super Hornets from USS Harry S. Truman, and the campaign ended with an Oman-brokered deal under which the Houthis stopped attacking US ships.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where do the Houthis get their missiles and drones?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The UN Panel of Experts found that the Houthis receive unprecedented outside support and that seized components resemble those made in Iran. The Houthis also assemble drones and missiles in Yemen from imported parts, and in July 2026 the United States told the UN Security Council that more than 70 percent of seized dual-use items came from China.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the Houthis attack Riyadh airport in 2026?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia resumed in July 2026, linked to the wider US&ndash;Iran conflict that began earlier that year. Houthi missiles and drones have since hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh several times; on 10 October 2026 a ballistic missile struck terminals 3 and 4 and killed at least 13 people.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can air power alone defeat the Houthis?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Most analysts say no. Saudi, American, British and Israeli air campaigns have destroyed weapons, ports and leaders, but none broke the Houthis. Chatham House analysts Farea al-Muslimi and Thomas Juneau wrote in 2025 that expanded US strikes were unlikely to deter them, and the group has since grown stronger.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why are the Houthis so hard to defeat?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Houthis are hard to defeat because they produce much of their own arsenal from imported parts, hide key assets underground in mountainous terrain, use cheap drones and missiles that cost far less than the interceptors used against them, have deep roots in northern Yemen, run a centralised and opaque organisation, face divided opponents, and use war itself to mobilise support.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many airstrikes has Yemen been hit by?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Yemen Data Project recorded 25,054 Saudi-led coalition air raids between March 2015 and the April 2022 truce. 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Chatham House analysts Farea al-Muslimi and Thomas Juneau wrote in 2025 that expanded US strikes were unlikely to deter them, and the group has since grown stronger.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/riyadh-airport-attack-12-killed-king-khalid-terminals-october-2026\/\">Riyadh Airport Attack: 12 Killed as Missile Hits King Khalid Terminals<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/houthi-strikes-called-off-trump-yemen-september-2026\/\">Houthi Strikes Called Off: Bombs Were Already on the Jets<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/houthi-ballistic-missiles-khamis-mushait-king-khalid-air-base-2026\/\">Houthi Missiles Target Khamis Mushait, Home of Saudi Arabia&#8217;s F-15s<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/riyadh-king-khalid-airport-houthi-missile-attack-september-2026\/\">King Khalid Airport: Houthi Missiles Reach Riyadh for the First Time<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 25,000 coalition air raids, over 1,000 US strikes in 2025 and repeated Israeli attacks have not broken the Houthis, and in 2026 their missiles are hitting Riyadh. Seven reasons why air power keeps failing in Yemen, according to the people who study them.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":28008877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28009102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why the Houthis Are So Hard to Defeat: 7 Reasons | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than 25,000 Saudi air raids, Operation Rough Rider and Israeli strikes have not broken the Houthis. 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