Houthi drone attack shakes Tel Aviv; US embassy targeted
Yemeni Houthi rebels attacked near the US embassy in Tel Aviv. Here's how they managed to slip through the world's best-protected city.
For many years, Israel has been targeted by Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah from Lebanese territory. This has led to the creation of the world's most advanced anti-air and anti-missile defense system.
It's multi-layered and challenging to penetrate, but the Yemeni Houthi rebels demonstrated it is possible. They claimed responsibility for the attack on the night of July 18-19, 2024. The attack using the new Yafa drone was intended as a gesture of solidarity and support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Additionally, the Houthis have announced more attacks in their declaration.
It's also worth noting that the drone's target was most likely the nearby American embassy, but the drone missed its intended target due to the precision of commercial navigation modules.
The Yafa drone — Houthi or Iranian stealth drone
This is not the first Houthi attack on Israel; these have been carried out with varying intensity since November 2023. However, the latest attack seems to be the first successful one, causing the death of at least one person and injuring nine others.
Like Hezbollah, the Houthis have had substantial time to build their arsenal. Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since 2015, with only a fragile ceasefire since 2022. The Houthis' rearming with Iranian equipment was disrupted by a series of attacks on civilian ships, leading to retaliatory bombings by the US Navy and the Royal Air Force.
Regarding drones capable of flying about 1,243 miles, the Yemeni Houthis had limited numbers. Previous attacks were carried out using Samad-3 drones, most likely with additional fuel tanks. These drones have a wingspan of 14.8 feet, a length of about 9.8 feet, and can carry up to 88 pounds of payload. Photos of the drone debris from the Tel Aviv attack show a design with simple wings, ruling out the Ukraine-familiar Shahed-136.
The new Yafa drone may evolve from the Samad-3 drone, perhaps adding stealth features or some variation of the "kamikaze" type of the new Iranian Shahed-149 drone, which is somewhat a clone of the MQ-9A Reaper.
Here's how the Houthi drone could have avoided being shot down
For slow drones and cruise missiles, the best method to avoid detection by air defense radars is to fly at the lowest possible altitude, using natural terrain features such as river beds or valleys. For most drones with inertial or satellite navigation, it is possible to program a flight along a pre-designated path.
Air defense systems' radar coverage is limited to the radar horizon, detecting low-flying objects up to about 25 miles or less if the target has a reduced radar signature. An air defense battery would need to be placed every 25 miles or less to create a tight air defense.
Even Israel lacks such capabilities, which creates gaps. The only effective way to detect such low-flying targets is to raise the radar to a high altitude. This can be done in two ways: using an AWACS-type aircraft (Israel has only four) or aerostats or large drones like the IAI Heron. However, 24/7 surveillance is costly and not always available.
