In just under three weeks, the total cost of the US military’s campaign against the Houthi militants in Yemen is approaching $1 billion, even as the raids have had no specified effect on eliminating the terror group’s capacities, CNN reported.
The air attacks, which were initiated on March 15, have already utilized hundreds of millions of dollars worth of munitions for attacks against the outfit, including JSOWs, JASSM long-range cruise missiles, and Tomahawk missiles. B-2 bombers out of Diego Garcia are also being employed against the group, and an extra aircraft carrier as well as many fighter squadrons and air defense systems are also being moved into the Central Command region, defense officials expressed this week.
The sources stated the Pentagon will likely require to request a supplemental grant from Congress to continue the procedure. However, it may not be possible — both sides have already criticized the offensive.
The Pentagon acknowledged that the outfit has still been able to strengthen their bunkers and hold weapons stockpiles underground, similarly to the strikes conducted by the Biden administration for over a year. And it has been challenging to specify precisely how much the Houthis still have accumulated, a defense official said.
“They’ve taken out some sites, but that hasn’t affected the Houthis’ ability to continue shooting at ships in the Red Sea or shooting down US drones,”
according to a source who has been briefed on the operation.
“Meanwhile, we are burning through readiness—munitions, fuel, deployment time.”
The question remains, however, how long the Trump government intends to continue the offensive, which CENTCOM has defined as a “24/7” operation. Trump has stated it will last until the Houthis’ termination of attacking Red Sea shipping, but despite weeks of strikes, the Houthis have continued conducting strikes and drone attacks at targets in and over the Red Sea. A second MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down this week, the second since the offensive began, multiple sources told CNN.
Those informed about the operation characterized the Houthi officials killed in the US strikes as mid-level, akin to “middle management.” The official who oversaw drone operations was killed last month, officials said.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz mentioned the Houthi leader in a March Signal chat revealed by The Atlantic. In that conversation, Waltz stated that the Houthis’ “top missile guy” was killed when he entered his girlfriend’s building in Yemen, which “collapsed” during US strikes.
The significant operation has also unsettled certain officials at US Indo-Pacific Command, who have grumbled in recent days and weeks about the large number of long-range weapons being deployed by CENTCOM against the Houthis, especially the JASSMs and Tomahawks, the sources said. Such weapons are crucial if a war with China occurs, and military planners at INDOPACOM worry that the CENTCOM operation might adversely affect US military readiness in the Pacific.
