The European Modern Policy website: Sana’a is imposing a shift in the naval balance of power in the Red Sea

Follow-ups – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:

A European report published by the Modern Policy website revealed that the attacks by Sana’a forces on ships linked to “Israel” in the Red Sea have imposed a broad shift in the form of contemporary conflicts, indicating that low-cost combat methods have proven a great ability to outperform advanced Western fleets despite the enormous disparity in capabilities.

The report, published on Sunday, stated that the naval operations carried out in the Red Sea have shown that asymmetrical strategies are often more impactful than the traditional military power upon which major countries rely.

The report added that this shift reflects a fundamental change in the nature of armed confrontations, where parties with limited resources have become capable of altering the calculations of global powers at minimal costs compared to what major countries need to maintain their superiority.

According to the report, the Houthi operations have revealed fundamental gaps in the traditional security model, confirming that understanding irregular threats has become an essential part of analyzing the current geopolitical landscape.

The report explained that the Houthis’ superiority is not solely linked to their possession of military tools but to their ability to employ strategies that combine low cost, high flexibility, and direct impact, noting that their increasing reliance on suicide drones, ballistic missiles, and cheap surveillance systems has enabled them to direct relatively simple weapons toward commercial ships worth billions of dollars.

The report confirmed that a single drone is capable of causing damages that make global shipping companies immediately recalculate and change their routes, which creates additional logistical costs and leads to widespread economic disruptions.

It indicated that asymmetrical strategies rely on bypassing the opponent’s strengths and striking at its points of weakness, which was clearly evident in the Red Sea, where modern warships have lost much of their importance in the face of threats that are difficult to monitor and cost little to reproduce.

The report noted that the limited ability of major countries to counter these attacks has revealed flaws in the traditional defense doctrine. Despite the deployment of advanced combat fleets by the US and Britain, Houthi attacks have continued and hit sensitive targets.

It also clarified that the strategic strength of the Houthis stems from their exploitation of global economic connectivity points via the Red Sea, confirming that the psychological impact of the attacks is much greater than the material damage, because the mere occurrence of an attack pushes international companies to immediately reconsider their routes.

The report added that the Houthis have realized that sowing a state of uncertainty constitutes an effective and simultaneously cheap strategic tool.