According to the US Navy, the Saudi Al Madinah frigate, damaged in an attack of the Houthi-Saleh alliance in the Red Sea on January 29, was struck by an unmanned, remote-controlled craft, filled with explosives.
Return of the damaged Al Madinah frigate to the Jeddah naval base on February 5, 2017 (Photo: Al Arabiya)
According to the US Navy’s data, the Al Madinah frigate of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, damaged in an attack of the Yemeni Houthi-Saleh alliance in the Red Sea on January 29, was struck by an unmanned, remote-controlled craft, filled with explosives, the Defense News informational website reported on Sunday, citing commander of the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet and head of US Naval Forces Central Command, Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan.
According to Donegan, the attack on the Al Madinah, apparently, was the first confirmed fact of usage of such a weapon, which, as the Vice Admiral noted, represents a larger threat to fleets than boats, operated by suicide bombers. The official believes that this attack also demonstrates foreign support, provided to the Houthi-Saleh alliance, because, as Donegan said, the explosible motor boats were, probably, supplied by Iran.
The Saudi Al Madinah frigate was struck by an explosible motor boat in its rear part and suffered damages in the evening on January 29. According to official Saudi sources, two members of the frigate’s crew were killed, while three others were wounded. According to French reports, five people on board of the frigate were killed in the attack, while over ten others were injured. The damaged frigate returned to the Saudi Jeddah naval base on February 5.
According to official statements of Saudi Arabia, the Al Madinah frigate was attacked by three explosible boats, operated by suicide bombers. Two motor boats were allegedly destroyed by fire from the frigate, but the third watercraft hit the target. At the same time, pro-Houthi sources initially denied the fact of usage of suicide bombers in this attack.
Videos of the attack on the Saudi Al Madinah frigate:
I was wondering about the feasibility of such an attack. Why is this evidence of foreign support? A motorboat filled with explosives, if anything, is cheaper than an anti-cheap missile. It’s a poor man’s anti-ship weapon. I would think that there is a big risk of radio jamming making the attack ineffective.
Their is another way… An algorithm designed to “no matter what” zone in on an invisible laser would achieve the same task. So basically, a half mile, or more away they can shine a laser onto the side hull, while the cheap $15 Raspberry PI computer with free software just heads towards that light till “bam”
Personally, I say that “Photon Weapons are the future as well as Photon Guidance, and not electrons.
#2 Another way is a simple program designed to simply head towards the nearest ship in its site. This is like a (self driving truck)
It’s standard Saudi and US policy to state any offensive weaponry used by Houthi’s/ Yemini Army is somehow linked to Iran. They do every time – despite fact Yemeni Republican Guard is allied to Houthi’s and has own military hardware stockpiles and military engineers.