Israel downing Houthi missile is first instance of space warfare | Hacker News Reader

Israel downing Houthi missile is first instance of space warfare

jpost.com

56 pointsApocryphon37 comments

I wondered how the Saudis' felt about having missiles fired over their country. It turns out they're probably relieved that the Houthi have a new target.

"Yemen’s Houthi rebels have unleashed a barrage of drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, water desalination plant, oil facility and power station, Saudi state-run media reported."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/20/houthis-launch-atta...

They almost hit the formula1 circuit last year.

Saudi and Jordan have intercepted a few of these drones heading to Israel. Arab twitter is raging.

Neither likes Hamas and Saudi definitely isn’t a fan of the Houthis.

It’s funny how several decades ago Israel was seen as the #1 enemy of the Arab world. But now most Arab leaders see Israel as a (potential) economic partner and see Iran and its proxies as the #1 threat.

The problem is that after decades of inciting their own citizens to hate Israel and Jews, they can’t really speak openly in favor of Israel or against Iran.

granted, considering the historical rivalry for the caliphate amongst Arabs, Egyptians, Turks and Persians, I'm not all that surprised

>Arabs, Egyptians, Turks and Persians

and don't forget the Sunni/Shia divide, where Iran will support Hezbollah because Shia, but wind up supporting Sunni Hamas because common cause against Jewish Israel usurping a piece of what was for a long period of time Islamdom.

for the deeply committed end of Islamic "church/state unity" thinking, getting back Israel is one step, but they expect Spain back too, just as they would like to "reencompass" secular moslem states.

> and don't forget the Sunni/Shia divide, where Iran will support Hezbollah because Shia, but wind up supporting Sunni Hamas because common cause against Jewish Israel usurping a piece of what was for a long period of time Islamdom.

Irans support for Hamas has from the beginning also (somewhat ironically, similar to Israel’s motives for fostering Hamas in the first place) as an Islamist counterweight to the PLO and its connection to pan-Arab nationalism.

Saudis shot down the Yemeni missiles, this is unironically a cover story. They even went to the US to ask them for more air defence so they can better protect Israel after it happened.

There have been multiple missile attacks. Most were cruise missiles which are easy to intercept. This was a ballistic missile, which the Saudis cannot intercept.

I think I need to become far more informed about these matters as this is rather surprising to read.

I’ve been watching Russia toddle about with their “second best in the world” equipment, demonstrating how difficult it can be. And now I’m reading that Houthi rebels have missiles that can make it outside some meaningful definition of “atmosphere”?

Maybe I’m failing to understand how modern military rocketry works.

It’s not as impressive as it sounds. Weather balloons go up pretty high too. Making a rocket go straight up into space and comes down again in a ballistic trajectory is relatively easy compared to making one that goes to orbit. This is the same kind of headline that Bezos was generating when he landed a rocket from “space” - up but not around.

Weather Ballons can't go beyond the atmosphere because they utilize the differential in density between the atmosphere outside the balloon and the gas inside.

The point is to illustrate the difference between going up and down, vs going into orbit (going sideways). Weather balloons go up many kilometers but they don’t go into orbit. They just go up and down. A ballistic missile, sounding rocket, or bezos pod does the same thing with a little more oomph.

Making a rocket that only goes up 100km into space and then falls immediately down again is hardly brain surgery.

Houthis are Iranian proxy, so they likely got Iranian missiles (among other weapons).

AnsarAllah are allies of Iran, not proxies. They make decisions on their own and are the natives of North Yemen, organizing politically for decades now.

I think there's no clear split between "proxy" and "ally".

I agree that they make their own decisions, but from the POV of Iran they're rather proxy against the Saudis.

A sounding rocket basically the dimensions of a telephone pole can exit the Earth's atmosphere, going straight up(and coming straight down). It's getting enough sideways speed for orbit that requires all the extra fuel.

Few things to consider:

1. The rockets and drones are supplied to Yemen by Iran. Which also supplies rockets and drones to Russia.

2. Russia wasn’t really what it was claiming to be, and it certainly isn’t anymore.

3. Russia is (in theory) fighting against the Ukranian military, so they need precision. Yemen doesn’t care about that, they just want to bomb Israeli cities. Cheap is fine.

4. The magnitude of the conflict is vastly different. Ukraine is about x40 the size of Israel, and this war has been going on for x20 the duration.

Re 1: Supplied? I thought that Iran was supplying a huge dose of technical assistance, but not actual missiles because of blockade/interdiction issues.

I doubt Yemeni rebels are able to source and build ICBMs. They most likely get the missiles ready for launch.

The “rebels” are effectively the state of Yemen.

Same sentiment still holds.

They are MRBMs, not ICBMs.

> they need precision. Yemen doesn’t care about that, they just want to bomb Israeli cities.

Wouldn't reliably hitting a city from that distance require precision? I think the Houthi forces just want to look like they are doing something. No matter what, they are not going affect the war.

Bret Devereaux had an interesting analysis of this effect[0], mostly in relation to Hezbollah (but also pertaining to the other Israel-oppositional militant groups in the region): They have to walk a balance of looking like they are involving themselves (to keep their supporters happy) but not committing themselves (so that they don't get directly targeted by a very well-funded opponent). They very much want to be the chicken in the ham-and-egg sandwich.

To the direct point, hitting a city from 1000 miles away would demand quite a lot of precision (to be clear, this article at least doesn't say they were on target, but even hitting Israeli territory from Yemen is on par with hitting New Jersey from Cuba). On the other hand, Russia is targeting specific installations and infrastructure, which is an entirely different feat.

[0] https://acoup.blog/2023/10/27/fireside-friday-october-27-202...

A little poking around says that the missile used was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghadr-110 and the Wikipedia entry has even been updated with a one-sentence mention of this interception.

The Houthi are using Scud-type missiles supplied by Iran that normally reach an altitude of 160km / 100 miles.

https://www.indianpolitics.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/...

FWIW, the edge of space is usually, somewhat arbitrarily defined as the Karman line, 100 km / 62.1 mi.

Not if you are Virgin Galactic its not :)

Getting to space (above the Karman line at ~100km altitude) is one thing; staying there is another.

There is a short accessible summary of the difference between "in space" and "in orbit" at https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/

I think people's still imagine the technology's availability as it was 40 years ago.

* Launch sites: https://space.skyrocket.de/directories/launchsites.htm

* Satellites by country (I expect most didn't launch their own) https://space.skyrocket.de/directories/sat_c.htm

(Perhaps someone knows a list of countries with launch ability.)

Never thought I would witness a war between Israel and Yemen. Fought in space, no less.

And it will go down in the history books too. I wonder what folks thousands of years in the future will think, just a dusty fact, or a turning point?

Gives a whole new meaning to the term “testing in production”.

Surprisingly, the Arrow program has been fairly lengthy and has had its share of controversy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_(missile_family)

I remember reading about it when I was a kid.

[deleted]

The "accessibility of technology" included a very large helping of Iranian assistance. They weren't just googling "how to build a ballistic missile".

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