US spent 1bn bombing Yemen but failed to gain air superiority says report
Donald Trump’s administration declared a ceasefire in Yemen last week due to burning through expensive munitions while failing to establish air superiority over the Houthis, according to the New York Times.
Citing Washington officials, a report on Monday stated that the Yemeni group shot down numerous American MQ Reaper drones and fired at naval ships in the Red Sea right up until the moment a truce was agreed.
Trump announced last week that in exchange for the US ceasing air strikes on Yemen, the Houthis had agreed to stop attacking vessels - though attacks on Israeli ships and territory would continue.
The Houthis had targeted what they said were Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea since November 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli aggression in Gaza.
In mid-March, the US president launched Operation Rough Rider, a bombing campaign on Yemen which he had hoped would force the Houthis into submission.
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But what had emerged after one month of the campaign was that the Houthis had shot down several American MQ-Reaper drones and continued to fire at vessels in the Red Sea - including an American aircraft carrier.
A Houthi field commander told Middle East Eye last week that the group shot down seven MQ Reaper drones in recent weeks. He also said that two fighter jets were downed by the Yemeni group.
According to the New York Times, the two $67m F/A-18 Super Hornet jets had in fact accidentally fallen off the US’s flagship aircraft carriers into the sea. Two pilots and a flight deck crew member were wounded in the incidents.
The report stated that Houthi air defences nearly struck American F16 and F-35 fighter jets, which could have resulted in US casualties.
It added that a month into the offensive, Washington had already burned through $1bn of weapons.
The offensive was originally planned to last up to ten months, and also aimed to target Houthi leaders, in a similar strategy to Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Times reported.
The US military carried out over 1,100 strikes, which it said killed hundreds of Houthi fighters.
But Yemenis told MEE earlier this month that many of the strikes targeted areas with no Houthi presence, killing scores of civilians.
'Fighting against Yemen is not an easy adventure. Such a loss was not envisioned in Washington'
- Houthi field commander
One strike on a migrant detention centre in Saada, northwest of the country, killed 68 African migrants and wounded dozens more.
The ceasefire came about following talks between Steve Witkoff, Washington’s Middle East envoy, and Omani officials, the Times reported.
US Central Command was subsequently sent an order on 5 May to “pause” offensive operations.
Officials said that Trump was ready to move on from the campaign and there was a concern that drawn-out fighting could drain resources away from the Asia-Pacific region.
The offensive used so many precision munitions that there were concerns it may have implications in the event of the US needing to fend off a Chinese invasion attempt in Taiwan.
Trump 'learned his lesson'
The Houthi field commander on the al-Jawf front line in northern Yemen, who identified himself only as Ali, said: “When Trump began the aerial campaign, he said he would annihilate us.”
But after over a month, he said that Trump had “learned his lesson”.
“Fighting against Yemen is not an easy adventure,” he said. “Such a loss was not envisioned in Washington.”
Trump himself appeared to acknowledge and commend the resistance put up by the Houthis.
“We hit them very hard and they had a great ability to withstand punishment,” the president told reporters last week. “You could say there was a lot of bravery there.”
The Houthis have since continued attacking Israel, with a ballistic missile - which was intercepted by Israeli air defences - triggering air raid sirens in Tel Aviv on Friday.
“Our attacks on Israel will persist no matter what, and Gaza will remain a vital question for Yemen,” the field commander said.
The year and a half long Red Sea campaign, which involved over 250 attacks on military and commercial ships, resulted in the biggest disruption to global trade since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fearing bombardment, vessels travelling from Europe to Asia avoided the traditional Suez Canal route leading to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Instead, they opted for the lengthier and more expensive route around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. As a result, maritime traffic in the Gulf of Aden dropped 70 percent in two years.
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