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Operation Poseidon Archer (OPA)

The Pentagon dubbed its campaign of air and missile strikes against the Houthis of Yemen ‘Operation Poseidon Archer’, CNN reported, citing two unnamed officials. The name was applied retroactively to the January 11 attacks carried out by the US and the UK, as well as seven more rounds of strikes since, the officials said.

They also said that ‘Poseidon Archer’ is being treated as entirely separate from ‘Prosperity Guardian’, an operation announced in December that officially involves personnel and ships from 20 countries. he US launched ‘Prosperity Guardian’ to secure the passage of merchant ships through the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb, after the Houthis said they would interdict any “Israeli-linked” ships in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. After the January 11 attacks, the Yemeni group said that British and American vessels would be fair game as well.

The naming “suggests a more organized, formal, and potentially long-term approach” by the Pentagon to the situation in the Red Sea, according to CNN. The US military has long used names intended to influence international and domestic perceptions about its operations. The practice of using “heroes of antiquity” and “figures from Greek and Roman mythology,” was introduced by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in WWII. Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea, known in the Roman pantheon as Neptune.

US President Joe Biden admitted last week that the Anglo-American strikes failed to deter the Houthis, but said they would continue anyway. “When you say ‘working’, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes,” he told reporters outside the White House.

The US is “clear-eyed about who the Houthis are” and doesn’t expect them to stop their attacks “immediately,” but hopes to “degrade and destroy their capabilities,” the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing anonymous US officials. Rather than invading Yemen, the US wants to hit “infrastructure” that enables the Yemeni group to fire missiles and drones at merchant vessels, one unnamed diplomat explained.

The Houthis have said they would continue targeting ships until Israel stops its offensive and lifts the blockade of Gaza. West Jerusalem has vowed to “eradicate” Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7 raid that claimed the lives of an estimated 1,200 Israelis. The attacks have impacted the global shipping industry more than the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the maritime advisory firm Sea-Intelligence. Roughly 15% of the world’s sea trade uses the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to deliver goods from Asia to Europe and vice versa. Facing skyrocketing insurance premiums, major Western carriers such as Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd have chosen to reroute their vessels around Africa, at the cost of time and fuel.

Since at least November 2023, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in a series of attacks against United States military forces, including ships and aircraft, and against maritime commercial shipping, operating in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. These attacks pose a threat to the safety of United States forces and commercial ships and their crews, regional political and economic stability, and navigational rights and freedoms. On January 9, 2024, the Houthi militants perpetrated their largest attack in the Red Sea, with multiple unmanned aerial systems, anti-ship cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles targeting United States and United Kingdom Navy vessels. On January 10, 2024, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding the Houthis immediately cease all attacks. The Houthi militants continue to pose a threat of future attacks against United States forces and military vessels and against other maritime traffic in the region.

1. 11 January - United States forces as part of a multinational operation alongside the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, conducted discrete strikes against facilities in Yemen that facilitate Houthi militants' attacks in the Red Sea region. These facilities include air and coastal surveillance radar sites, unmanned aerial system launch facilities and launch sites, and cruise and ballistic missile facilities and launch sites. The strikes were taken to deter and degrade Houthi capacity to conduct future attacks and were conducted in a manner designed to limit the risk of escalation and avoid civilian casualties. The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces said that the "criminal aggression" waged by the United States and the United Kingdom against the country five Yemenis killed and six others injured, emphasizing that Washington and London bear full responsibility for the open act of aggression. The Defense Department is highly confident that yesterday's strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen were effective in degrading the rebel group's ability to carry out further attacks against commercial ships operating in the Red Sea, a senior Pentagon official said. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II, director of operations for the Joint Staff, said joint forces from the U.S. and United Kingdom launched more than 150 munitions from both maritime and air platforms against more than 16 locations controlled by the Iranian-backed militants.
2. 13 January - At 3:45 a.m. Yemen time (UTC+3) the US unilaterally performed an additional strike on a radar site near Sanaa, which Al-Masirah reported was at Al-Dailami Air Base. The US Central Command said the "follow-on action" was conducted by the destroyer USS Carney using Tomahawk missiles.
3. 14 January - The US military said that one of its fighter jets intercepted a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile launched from Hodeida heading towards the direction of the USS Laboon.
4. 16 January - At 4:15 a.m local time, the US conducted new airstrikes in Yemen, targeting four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles that were being prepared to target ships in the region.
5. 17 January - At approximately 11:59 p.m. local time, the U.S. carried out a series of missile strikes, launched from ships and submarines, against 14 Houthi missiles that were identified as an immediate threat to shipping in the region. The US announced that it carried out, at dawn, a fourth round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, hours after targeting an American ship in the Gulf of Aden. The US Central Military Command ( Centcom ) said in a statement that 14 ammunition missile platforms that the Houthis had prepared to launch on shipping lines in the Red Sea were bombed. The statement added, "These missiles that were on the launch pads represented an imminent danger to commercial ships and destroyers of the US Navy in the region, and could have been launched at any moment." Al-Masirah TV, affiliated with the Houthi group in Yemen, reported early Thursday morning that an American-British bombing targeted the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhamar, Al-Bayda, and Saada.
6. 18 January - At 3:40 p.m. local time, the US conducted pre-emptive strikes on three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were being prepared to target commercial shipping in the region.
7. 19 January - At 6:45 p.m. local time, US Navy F/A-18 aircraft taking off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower targeted Houthi anti-ship missiles in Yemen that were being prepared for launch. Al-Masirah reported airstrikes in the al-Jabaana neighborhood of Hodeida.
8. 20 January - At 4:00 a.m. local time, the US conducted airstrikes against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was prepared to target shipping in the Gulf of Aden. As part of ongoing efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on maritime vessels, on Jan. 20 at approximately 4 a.m. (Sanna time), U.S. Central Command forces conducted airstrikes against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Gulf of Aden and was prepared to launch. U.S. forces determined the missile presented a threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region, and subsequently struck and destroyed the missile in self-defense.
9. 22 January - At approximately 11:59 p.m. local time, the US and UK conducted joint air and missile strikes against on 8 Houthi targets across Yemen, including radars and drone and missile sites. Al-Masirah reported airstrikes in Sanaa and al-Dailami Air Base. According to a joint statement published by the Pentagon: "Today, the militaries of the United States and United Kingdom, at the direction of their respective governments with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, conducted an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes against 8 Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Houthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea," the statement said. The new strikes targeted a Houthi underground storage site as well as other locations housing Houthi's missile and air surveillance capabilities, the statement said.
10. 03 February - The United States, in cooperation with Britain, aircraft launched 13 raids on Amanat Al-Asimah and Sanaa Governorate, 9 raids on Hodeidah Governorate, 11 raids on Taiz Governorate, 7 raids on Al-Bayda Governorate, 7 raids on Hajjah Governorate, and a raid on Saada Governorate.. CNN quoted American officials as saying that the United States and Britain launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen from air and surface platforms, including F/A-18 aircraft. Officials told the network that at least 30 targets were struck in at least 10 locations. One official said the targets include command and control, an underground weapons storage facility, as well as other weapons used by the Houthis to target international shipping lanes. Reuters quoted American officials as saying that the United States launched a series of strikes on targets linked to Iran in Yemen, on Saturday, on the second day of its response to the killing of American soldiers in an attack last week on a military base in Jordan. A total of 11 air strikes targeted Houthi sites in the Al-Barah and Haifan districts in Taiz Governorate, southwest of Yemen. Three raids targeted Jabal Al-Jada' in Al-Lahiya District and Al-Salif District in Al-Hudaydah Governorate, western Yemen, on the Red Sea coast. Other air strikes targeted Houthi sites in the neighboring Dhamar and Al-Bayda governorates in central Yemen. Raids also targeted Houthi sites in the Khadir District, east of Taiz Governorate, southwest of Yemen. There were intense overflights and air strikes on sites in the capital, Sana'a, adding that " raids targeted Al-Hafa camp, east of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a." Houthi media reported that raids "targeted the Al-Nahdain and Attan areas, south of the capital."
11. 05 February - American-British aircraft launched a series of raids on the dune in Hodeidah, while on Sunday they launched 8 raids on the Ras Issa area, 3 raids in separate areas of Al-Zaydiyah in Hodeidah Governorate , and 4 raids east of the city of Saada.
12. 07 February - US-British aircraft launched two raids on the Ras Issa area in Al-Salif District in Hodeidah.
13. 08 February - US-British aircraft resumed targeting the Yemeni governorate of Hodeidah with many raids. A Yemeni security source confirmed that the aircraft launched two raids on the Shabaka area south of the port of Salif, hours after targeting the Ras Issa area in the Salif District with three air strikes. The source stressed that "these attacks will not deter us from our moral, religious and humanitarian stance in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and will not pass without response and punishment."
14. 11 February - The United States announced that it had carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen that “posed an imminent threat to US naval and commercial ships in the region.” The US military command in the Middle East (Centcom) said in a statement, “On February 10, between 4 and 5 p.m. Sana’a time, the forces successfully carried out self-defense strikes against two unmanned drone ships in addition to 3 mobile anti-ship cruise missiles north of Hodeidah in Yemen, where it was prepared for launch against ships in the Red Sea. She added, "US Central Command identified these vehicles and missiles in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and determined that they represent an imminent threat to US Navy ships and commercial ships in the region." Centcom considered that "these measures will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters protected and safer for the US Navy and commercial ships."
15. 17 February - The United States announced that it had carried out five new strikes on targets that “posed an imminent threat” in areas under Houthi control in Yemen. The US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement published on the Mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, an unmanned underwater vessel (UUV), and an unmanned surface vessel (USV) in Houthi-controlled and Iranian-backed areas of Yeme
16. 20 February 2024 - As of Feb 20, US has launched 32 self defense strikes vs #Yemen's #Houthis, with most recent one coming on 19 February.
17. 28 February 2024 - US Central Command announced that coalition aircraft and warships shot down 5 Houthi drones in the Red Sea. Centcom said in a statement: “On February 27, US aircraft and a coalition warship shot down five Iranian-backed Houthi drones in One Direction (OWA) in the Red Sea.” It added, "US Central Command forces identified these drones coming from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and decided that they represented an imminent threat to US commercial and naval ships and coalition ships in the region."
18. 04 October 2024 - US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted strikes on 15 Houthi targets in Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen today at about 5 p.m. (Sanaa time). These targets included Houthi offensive military capabilities. These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have announced that they have begun targeting ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that they consider to be linked to Israel, in “solidarity” with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which Israel is bombing and besieging in the midst of its war on Hamas. Their attacks forced many shipping companies to suspend the transit of their ships in this region, through which 12 percent of global trade passes. In this context, Washington reclassified the Houthis as a “terrorist” organization and formed a multinational coalition in December whose goal was to “protect” maritime traffic.

First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky confirmed 14 February 2024 that Western strikes on Yemen violate international law, and the right to self-defense does not apply to the protection of shipping. Polyansky said during a Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East: “Such actions by Western countries constitute a direct violation of international law. The right to self-defense cannot be used to ensure freedom of navigation.”

The Yemeni Al-Masirah channel reported that the Al-Jabbana area in Hodeidah Governorate, western Yemen, was subjected to two air strikes . As part of the campaign launched by the United States and Britain on January 12, in which it launched a massive attack on “Ansar Allah” sites in several Yemeni cities, against the backdrop of the group’s attacks in the Red and Arab Bahrain.

Houthi threats against Israel and the US had grown louder in the two weeks after an Israeli strike on the Yemeni port Hodeidah, and the killing of Hamas’s chief negotiator in Tehran. The militia has proven more than capable of enforcing a semi-blockade of the Red Sea, and may be just one lucky strike away from sinking a massive US warship. US media have warned about the “alarming” prospects of a multi-billion-dollar Nimitz-class supercarrier being put at risk by technically “unsophisticated” Houthi adversaries. “Despite the aircraft carrier's formidable defenses and advanced technology, the persistence of Houthi harassment has sparked debates about the vulnerability of such vessels in modern combat environments, especially when facing unconventional threats from non-state actors like the Houthis,” National Interest contributor Harrison Kass wrote in a piece published 03 August 2024.

“It seems highly unlikely that the Houthis will damage any US carrier. But history has repeatedly shown that defensive measures which look unbeatable on paper can fail due to human error…Confidence is justified, complacency is not. And moving even the mightiest supercarrier into an area where it may be attacked is not without risk,” the observer emphasized.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces on 17 October 2024 conducted multiple, precision airstrikes on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that contained various advanced conventional weapons used to target U.S. and international military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. CENTCOM forces targeted the Houthi's hardened underground facilities housing missiles, weapons components, and other munitions used to target military and civilian vessels throughout the region. U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy assets, including U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers, were part of the operation. This is the first time B-2s have been used in combat since 2017.

The B-2 is the only U.S. Air Force aircraft capable of deploying the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 30,000-pound precision-guided "bunker buster." This powerful bomb can penetrate nearly 100 feet into the ground before detonating, making it an essential tool for targeting heavily fortified underground structures. The B-2 will be able to carry two MOPs, one in each bay. Previously, the GBU-57 had been tested, but there previousy were no confirmed reports of its use in actual combat. Bunker busters come with delayed fuses, which allow the bomb to explode only after it has penetrated its target. This ensures maximum damage to underground facilities, such as command centers or weapons storage depots.

As Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea continued for a year following the outbreak of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, and with the escalation of tensions between Russia and the West against the backdrop of the Ukrainian war, Western sources revealed that the Russians provided data to the Houthis in Yemen that helped them attack Western ships. An informed source, as well as two European defense officials, claimed that Russia provided targeting data to the Houthis as they attacked Western ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones. The sources also added that the Houthis have begun using Russian satellite data as they expand their attacks on ships, according to the Wall Street Journal 25 October 2024. One person noted that the data and satellite images were transmitted by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

This assistance shows the extent to which Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to undermine the US-led Western economic and political order, according to the newspaper. In addition, a number of analysts believed that Moscow sought to fuel instability from the Middle East to Asia to create problems for Washington, especially since the expanding conflict in the Middle East, which was fueled by the October 7 attack last year, consumed many of the resources and attention of American officials. Western sources had previously indicated that a Russian businessman close to the Kremlin had entered into deals to arm the Houthi group, after its delegation visited the Russian capital months ago. However, Moscow later denied the matter, confirming its support for the legitimate government.

Since November 2023 to late October 2024, the Houthis had launched about 200 missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, claiming they were linked to Israel or heading to its ports in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This has prompted some shipping companies to detour around Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route through which about 12 percent of global trade normally passes, according to the International Chamber of Shipping. In return, Washington, which leads an international naval coalition with the aim of "protecting" maritime navigation in this strategic region for global trade, launched several strikes on the sites of the Iranian-backed Yemeni group.