Houthis deploy drone submarine for first time

Houthi rebels have deployed a drone submarine for the first time, posing new threats to shipping in the Red Sea.

The unmanned submarine was destroyed on Saturday, along with one drone boat and three anti-ship cruise missiles, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, reports The Telegraph.

“CENTCOM identified the anti-ship cruise missiles, unmanned underwater vessel, and the unmanned surface vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.”

At the beginning of the year, a surface drone packed with explosives was detonated 50 miles off the coast of Yemen, exploding a few miles away from commercial and US military vessels.

While this is the first time the Houthis have used a drone submarine, the technology has been developed by their main backers, Iran.

Also known as an unmanned underwater vessel, these drones are similar to a torpedo but travel more slowly and have a longer range.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recently unveiled a prototype of a larger drone, although its exact purpose is unknown.

Last spring the Ukrainian Navy unveiled its Toloka TLK-150 underwater drone as its latest weapon against the Russian navy. Operating below the waterline it is far less vulnerable to being destroyed.

The drones were used in October 2023 in an underwater raid on Russian-occupied Sevastopol. A month earlier details of another design, the Marichka, were also made public.

About six metres long and costing around $433,000 (£343,000), it is designed to be used in operations against the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.

Ukraine has already enjoyed considerable success with surface drones and the Marichka is seen as being even more effective.