For more than a year, Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked merchant vessels and warships in the Red Sea with missiles, drones, and speedboats loaded with explosives, disrupting global trade through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the Houthis have hit vessels as far as 100 miles off the Yemeni coast, prompting retaliatory airstrikes by U.S. and Israeli warplanes. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, largely discontinued their attacks when Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire in January. But evidence examined by weapons researchers shows that the rebels may have acquired new technology that makes drones more difficult to detect and helps them fly even farther.
It could potentially give the Houthis an element of surprise against U.S. or Israeli military forces if they were to restart any of these conflicts.
The boat that was inspected was intercepted at sea in August by Yemen’s National Resistance Forces, which is aligned with the country’s internationally recognized government. The items found aboard included guided artillery rockets, small engines manufactured in Europe that can power cruise missiles, radars and ship-tracking devices, as well as hundreds of commercial drones in addition to the hydrogen fuel cell parts.
Hydrogen-based electrical power with fuel cells is decades old, and was used by NASA during the Apollo missions. Its use to power military drones emerged in the late 2000s during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The longer they can stay in the air, the more data they can collect. They are key for long-range reconnaissance.
The hydrogen systems can store three times more energy than lithium batteries of an equal weight, he said, allowing the drone operator to carry more weight over a longer distance.
Fuel cells also produce few vibrations to jostle surveillance cameras and other sensors on a surveillance drone, he said, adding that they can be reused many more times than the rechargeable batteries commonly used to propel drones.
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