Destroys Underground Weapons Storage Units

The US Air Force deployed at least two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to strike Houthi targets on October 17. The precision attacks centered on five reinforced underground weapons storage locations in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled region.

The raid was conducted with the goal of undermining the group's ongoing efforts to interfere with international shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab El-Mandeb Strait. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed that other Air Force and Navy forces assisted in the sortie.

This is the first time that the very expensive, very stealthy Northrop B-2 Spirit bombers have been used against Houthis. According to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, they were able to strike five “hardened underground weapons storage locations.” These contained “various advanced conventional weapons,” including “missiles, weapons components, and other munitions used to target military and civilian vessels throughout the region,” explained CENTCOM.

The Houthis are just one of several groups backed by Iran, with others including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iraqi militias, that have conducted at least 180 attacks on US forces in the last year. They have been going after ships in the Red Sea corridor using drones and missiles in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.

CENTCOM has been forced to carry out nearly daily missions against the Houthis to intercept weapons. It has rotated aircraft carriers and warships over Yemen’s coast to protect the region, but several ships have still been hit.

Damage from the October 17 raid was not released; however, with the exceptional payload capacity of the Spirit bomber, the outcome couldn’t have been pretty.

“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” continued Austin. “The employment of U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrate U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”

FMI: www.centcom.mil