- The U.S. military released new video footage demonstrating its planes employing rockets to neutralize Houthi drones.
- The video highlights how U.S. fighter aircraft can utilize ordnance that costs less than air-to-air missiles.
- The aerial combat occurs as a fresh phase emerges in the Red Sea conflict.
On Wednesday, the U.S. military released a video providing a seldom-seen glimpse of an air-to-air engagement over the Red Sea. The footage depicts American fighter jets neutralizing Houthi drones using inexpensive, precision-guided rockets that cost considerably less than advanced air-to-air missiles.
The popular segment showcases an affordable method for U.S. aircraft to take down Houthi drones , which have persistently threatened alongside missiles for more than a year now.
U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for Middle East operations , stated on Wednesday that a U.S. fighter jet intercepted a single Houthi assault drone with APKWS laser-guided rockets. Video evidence shows both drones detonating over the sea.
The AGR-20 FALCO Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, known as APKWS, transforms Unguided Hydra 70 2.75-inch rockets into precise weaponry by adding laser-guidance kits. These rockets measure almost 19 inches in length and under 3 inches in diameter, rendering them very slender.
Gen. David Allvin, the Air Force Chief of Staff, said the APKWS costs just $35,000 a piece — a fraction of one of the air-to-air missiles that could have been used instead to take down the drone. For instance, he said, the AIM-9 missile costs around $500,000, while the AIM-120 is more than double that at around $1 million.
The cost of the rockets is more closely aligned with the price tag of a Houthi drone, which is likely in the range of tens of thousands of dollars. Officials have said that using an expensive missile to intercept this kind of threat is on the wrong side of the cost curve.
"More savings. More lethality. More Air Force," Allvin wrote on social media on Wednesday.
CENTCOM did not disclose when or where the engagement occurred, nor did it say what aircraft used the APKWS to shoot down the Houthi drones. These rockets can be fired from a range of aircraft. A US official told The War Zone earlier this year that US Air Force F-16s had used the rockets against Houthi drones.
Years earlier, the Air Force tested the air-to-ground rockets as a cheaper air-to-air kill solution.
The footage comes amid a fresh campaign of US airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. The Trump administration has vowed to intensify its efforts to deter the rebel group from attacking military and civilian vessels transiting key Middle East shipping lanes.
The new campaign began on Saturday, with CENTCOM saying that it had "initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation."
Air Force Lt. Gen Alexus Grynkewich, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, said Monday that the initial wave of strikes hit over 30 Houthi targets at multiple locations in Yemen, including training sites, drone infrastructure, weapons storage facilities, and command centers.
Grynkewich told reporters at a briefing that the operation extended into Sunday and Monday and would continue for several days "until we achieve the president's objectives."
CENTCOM has published footage this week showing flight operations aboard the USS Harry S. Truman — the latest US aircraft carrier to see combat against the Houthis — as well as missile launches from warships in its strike group.
And President Donald Trump has suddenly taken an aggressive approach to the Houthi conflict after a period of relative quiet in the Red Sea. He has vowed to keep striking the rebels and even threatened to go after Iran, their main supporter and provider of military assistance.
"Tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians, and watch how it will get progressively worse — It's not even a fair fight, and never will be. They will be completely annihilated!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
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