{"id":64023,"date":"2025-04-30T22:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T22:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/64023\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T22:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T22:14:08","slug":"brits-join-us-operation-rough-rider-to-bomb-houthi-drone-hub-in-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/64023\/","title":{"rendered":"Brits join US Operation Rough Rider to bomb Houthi drone hub in Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United Kingdom\u2019s Royal Air Force conducted a joint operation with U.S. military forces Tuesday that targeted \u201ca cluster of buildings\u201d in Yemen where Iran-backed Houthi militants produced drones matching those previously launched to attack ships in and around the Red Sea, according to a statement and officials familiar with the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese were the first direct U.K. strikes under this new U.K. [Labour Party-led] government \u2014 the last time was on 30 May 2024,\u201d a spokesperson with the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., told DefenseScoop on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

These strikes also mark the first to be authorized by the Brits during President Donald Trump\u2019s second presidency. <\/p>\n

They were conducted directly in support of Operation Rough Rider \u2014 the aggressive<\/a> campaign Trump initiated in March to dismantle Houthi infrastructure and leadership, as the group continues<\/a> to carry out intensifying one-way attack drones and missile assaults<\/a> against military and commercial watercraft in the Red Sea. The Yemen-based fighters kicked off the attacks in 2023 and have indicated<\/a> they\u2019re meant as a form of protest of America\u2019s support for Israel\u2019s military actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n

On Monday, before the U.S.-U.K. joint mission, the Office of the Navy Chief of Information released a statement confirming that a F\/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet (valued at more than $60 million) was \u201clost at sea\u201d after falling overboard the USS Harry S. Truman \u2014 reportedly<\/a> as that aircraft carrier made a sharp turn to evade Houthi fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis action was taken in response to a persistent threat from the Houthis to freedom of navigation. A 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea has already cost billions, fuelling regional instability and risking economic security for families in the U.K.,\u201d British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said in a statement to reporters late Tuesday about the latest joint mission.<\/p>\n

The strikes happened after dark and Houthi facilities targeted were located around fifteen miles south of Sanaa, Yemen\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoyal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, with air refuelling support from Voyager tankers, engaged a number of these buildings using Paveway IV precision-guided bombs \u2014 once very careful planning had been completed to allow the targets to be prosecuted with minimal risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure,\u201d the British Embassy spokesperson told DefenseScoop.<\/p>\n

They added that U.K. forces have also recently supplied routine allied air-to-air refueling support \u201cto aid the self defense of U.S. forces\u201d in the region prior to these strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been clear that the U.K. will not hesitate to take action to protect innocent lives and preserve freedom of navigation,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

A Pentagon spokesperson referred DefenseScoop\u2019s questions Wednesday to U.S. Central Command. Spokespersons from the command did not immediately respond to the request.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Brandi<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWritten by Brandi Vincent
\n\t\t\tBrandi Vincent is DefenseScoop\u2019s Pentagon correspondent. She reports on emerging and disruptive technologies, and associated policies, impacting the Defense Department and its personnel. Prior to joining Scoop News Group, Brandi produced a long-form documentary and worked as a journalist at Nextgov, Snapchat and NBC Network. She grew up in Louisiana and received a master\u2019s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United Kingdom\u2019s Royal Air Force conducted a joint operation with U.S. military forces Tuesday that targeted \u201ca…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,2595,393,4884,14536,1144,31995,712,32965,16,32966,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-64023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-drones","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-houthis","14":"tag-northern-ireland","15":"tag-red-sea","16":"tag-scotland","17":"tag-u-s-central-command","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-uk-mod","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114429222351378889","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}