Houthi cruise missile breaches Israeli air defences

Israel has confirmed a Houthi cruise missile landing near the city of Eilat in the country’s South.

This will be the first time the group has successfully breached Israeli air defences.

“A cruise missile launched from the direction of the Red Sea fell in an open area; the target was being monitored by Air Force forces,” according to an Israeli military statement. “There were no casualties and no damage was done. “The incident is under investigation.”

Although there were no deaths or injuries, it represents a demonstration of long-range attack capability for the Iran-backed militia.

The missile was launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen, about 1,600km from the target.

The longest-range US cruise missile, the AGM-158B-2, has a range of about 1,900km.

Houthi cruise missiles used before the current Gaza war were thought to have a range of about 1,300km, based on their use on targets in Saudi Arabia during Yemen’s civil war.

The group’s longest-range missile, the Quds-3, has a claimed range of 2,000km and is the only type capable of flying to Eilat.

The Houthis have also fired volleys of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Israel since the Gaza war began on October 7, but none of the projectiles hit their targets.

On October 23, a Houthi drone exploded in the Egyptian town of Taba, injuring six, while in November a drone struck Eilat from the direction of Syria, from where it was fired by Iran-backed militias.

Previous ballistic and cruise missile attacks by the Houthis against Israel have been intercepted by US and Israeli warships, jet aircraft and land-based air defences.

Cruise missiles such as the one that struck Eilat on Tuesday can be tracked and shot down by jets – a tactic the Israelis have used – but that depends on keeping aircraft present in the air for long periods, a costly operation.

Cruise missiles fly low to the ground – rarely higher than 150 metres – making them hard for radar beams to detect at long range, due to hills and the Earth’s curvature. They can also navigate and change direction at low level, complicating the task of air defence forces.

The Houthis previously fired Quds-3 cruise missiles towards Israel last year but they were shot down by the USS Carney warship over the Red Sea.

Ballistic missiles, by contrast, fly at high altitude, generally on a predictable “ballistic arc”, giving air defences such as the US Patriot or the Israeli Arrow ample time to spot and intercept them.

The relatively successful deployment of the cruise missile, which succeeded in getting past Red Sea naval air defences despite not hitting a target, could be a milestone in Iranian power projection.

In 2019, Houthis used Iranian-designed cruise missiles – according to a UN investigation – to hit oil infrastructure in Khurais, Saudi Arabia, about 800km from Houthi-controlled territory.

The Quds-1 missile, which experts claim is a slightly modified variant of the Soumar cruise missile, was utilized as part of an Iranian armaments pipeline constructed for the Houthis as early as 2009, according to the UN.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Quds-3 is a development of the Quds-1 with increased fuel capacity.

While the weapons are difficult to shoot down, the US has invested considerably in modernizing Patriot air defense missile systems to target low-flying cruise missiles, systems supplied to Israel by the US and Germany.

While the Israelis did not confirm what was used to monitor the missile, it does have the David’s Sling missile defence system, which, like the Patriot, can choose not to intercept missiles heading for open territory, as may have happened in Eilat.