Statement on Air Strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen: 3 February 2024
On 3 February, Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by Voyager tankers, joined US forces in further deliberate strikes against Houthi locations in Yemen involved in their campaign targeting shipping in the Bab al Mandab and southern Red Sea.
RAF Weapon Technicians prepare RAF Typhoon FRG4 aircraft on the 3rd February 2024. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
The Typhoons employed Paveway IV precision guided bombs against multiple military targets identified by careful intelligence analysis at three locations.
At As Salif, due west of Sanaa on the Red Sea coast, our aircraft targeted a ground control station inside a defensive position. This station had been used to control Houthi drones, both attack and reconnaissance types, launched from further inland, operating over the sea against international shipping.
A second drone ground control station was confirmed to be at Al Munirah, on the same stretch of coastline. As with As Salif, the station provided direct control of reconnaissance and attack drones targeting shipping in the Red Sea, its position on the coast allowing it to maintain the line of sight data links such weapons require to target ships with any accuracy.
The Typhoons also attacked a significant number of targets at Bani. An initial group of facilities there were successfully struck by the RAF on the night of 11 January, and since then a further set of buildings at the site had been positively confirmed as involved in the Houthi drone and missile operations and were duly targeted on this occasion.
As is standard practice with such operations by the Royal Air Force, the strikes were very carefully planned to ensure minimal risk of civilian casualties, and by bombing at night, any such risks were further mitigated.