In First, Houthis Release Footage Of Drone Attack On Israel-Affiliated Ship In Red Sea

The Houthis’ Shehab loitering munition.

The Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen released a video of an attack on an Israel-affiliated cargo ship on April 30, marking the first time the Iranian-backed group has shared such footage since the confrontation in the Red Sea and nearby waters broke out on the backdrop of the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

The video shows the ship, the Malta-flagged and Greece-owned Cyclades, receiving a direct hit in its rear from a Shehab loitering munition.

A loitering munition is a type of a drone with a built-in warhead and targeting system designed to loiter around a target area until a target is located, then attack the target by crashing into it.

The Houthis said in a statement on April 29 that the Cyclades, which was previously blacklisted for violating their ban on ships traveling to Israel, was targeted after it left the port of Eilat.

In the same statement, the Houthis announced an attack on another container ship in the Indian Ocean, the Portugal-flagged MSC Orion. The ship belongs to Zodiac Maritime, which is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. The group also said that it targeted the United States warships in the Red Sea.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on the same day that Cyclades was targeted with three anti-ship ballistic missiles and three drones. In addition, it reported the interception of a Houthi drone that was flying in the direction of USS Philippine, Ticonderoga-class cruiser, and USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

While CENTCOM didn’t admit that Cyclades was hit, the The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a detachment of the Royal Navy that monitors maritime incidents in the Red Sea, confirmed that the ship took damage as a result of the Houthis’ attack.

The Houthis first unveiled the Shehab loitering munition in 2021. The loitering munition is a version of the long-range Samad suicide drone which has been in service with the group since at least 2018. The Samad itself is said to be a copy of an Iranian drone family codenamed by the U.S. military and intelligence as KAS-04.

The Shehab has a wing span of five meters and an operational range of up to 1,000 kilometers. The loitering munition likely flies towards the designated area using a satellite-aided inertial navigation system. After arriving in the area, the operator utilizes an onboard electro-optical system via a two-way data-link to detect, track and lock on the target.

The Houthis have attacked dozens of vessels affiliated with Israel or owned by the U.S. and the UK in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean since last November in response to the Israeli war and siege on Gaza. The group also carried out a number of drone and missile attacks against Eilat and shot down three U.S. combat drones.

The U.S. and the UK have carried out hundreds of strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen since January in an attempt to deter the group. However, as evident by the attack on Cyclades, the group is still developing its capabilities and tactics.

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