In Yemen, the Houthis claimed to have successfully tested a hypersonic missile, the group told Russian media on Thursday amid escalating tensions in the West Asian region and ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.
Missile forces of the movement have successfully tested a missile that can reach speeds of up to Mach 8 [6,200 miles per hour] and is powered by solid fuel.
“Yemen plans to begin manufacturing it for use in attacks in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel,” it added.
The reports have mentioned that the Iran-backed rebel group is planning to begin manufacturing the missiles for use against targets in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as Israel.
The reports did not provide evidence for the claims. Hypersonic weapons fly at speeds higher than Mach 5 and the one claimed to have tested by Houthi is Mach 8 which is eight times the speed of sound. Such missiles could pose crucial challenges to missile defence systems because of their speed and manoeuvrability.
This comes amid reports that Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman, the first in months amid their tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme and attacks by its proxies. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship ballistic missile from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden, but it caused no damage to any vessels.
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