US F-35 was reportedly forced to make an evasive maneuver during strikes against Houthi defenses due to a Houthi missile. “They got close enough that the F-35 had to maneuver,” a US official said. But without more detail, that in itself doesn’t say much.
Houthi air defenses appear to have prompted increased use of stealth aircraft like the F-35 and B-2 bombers, especially for direct strikes on targets in Yemen, as well as costly standoff munitions, in recent months.
Two U.S. Air Force F-35A Lighting IIs fly in formation with two ROKAF F-35As during Freedom Shield 25, a defense-oriented exercise featuring live, virtual, and field-based training, March 13, 2025. The aircraft participated in dynamic targeting and aerial refueling training, validating the capability of ROK and U.S. Air Forces, to find, fix, and defeat a range of threats. (Photo courtesy of Republic of Korea Air Force)
Operation Rough Rider and F-35
The US military launched Operation Rough Rider, its expanded campaign of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, in March. Last week, the US government announced a ceasefire with the militant group, which authorities in Oman had helped broker.
General Dan Caine, the new US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, harbored concerns that a prolonged campaign against the Houthis would divert military resources away from the Asia-Pacific region.
President Trump and several other advisors agreed, and the President wanted this to be a short-duration mission.
American strikes had targeted more than 1,000 locations, including command and control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, and storage sites, the Pentagon reported. Additionally, more than a dozen senior Houthi leaders had been killed, the military stated, according to The New York Times.
Attacks Were Costly, With $1 Billion in Armaments
But those around-the-clock attacks on the Houthis reportedly cost the US $1 billion in missiles and bombs and the loss of two F-18 Hornets. One fellow went overboard as it was being towed on the USS Eisenhower when a missile caused the carrier to make a sharp turn. The other was lost when the aircrew missed the arresting cable on the carrier, and the pilots were forced to eject.
In addition, Houthi surface-to-air missiles shot down seven Reaper drones to the tune of $30 million each.
How Close A Call Was It?
Many questions need answering before people begin lining up to trash the F-35 again. What were the circumstances of the operation? We don’t know any of that, and the Times is well-known for painting President Trump in the worst light possible.
The Times painted it as the US sought the ceasefire due to a failed operation. But Reuters tells a different story. They said that Houthi leaders, tired of the relentless US bombing, were themselves looking for an exit ramp.
Two officials said Houthi leaders began contacting US allies in the Middle East around the first weekend in May. “We started getting intel that the Houthis had had enough,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Two sources said Iran played an important role in encouraging the Iran-aligned Houthis to negotiate as Tehran pursues its talks with the United States over its nuclear program aimed at ending crippling US sanctions and preventing a military strike by the US or Israel.
And the orgy of outrage over “a near” miss could be a worrying situation or nothing at all. The devil lies in the details, which we don’t know.
But if the Houthis had managed to shoot down an F-35, it would have been more of an indicator of shortcomings with the military operation rather than the aircraft itself, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, a consulting firm for the aerospace industry.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team performs a practice airshow performance at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Jan. 11, 2023. The F-35 Demo Team performs rehearsal flights regularly to maintain required flying certifications and to uphold and maintain their mission and Air Force recruiting standards. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kaitlyn Ergish)
A crew chief assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, taxis an F-35A Lightning II fifth generation aircraft assigned to the wing at the Vermont Air National Guard Base, South Burlington, Vermont, May 2, 2022. The aircraft departed to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, to continue NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing mission along the Eastern Flank. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Richard Mekkri)
An F-35A assigned to the 461st Flight Test Squadron, F-35 Integrated Test Force, conducts a weapon separation test at the Precision Impact Range Area at Edwards Air Force Base, California. AF-01 was the first F-35A built for the United States Air Force and remains an active test asset. (Courtesy Photo by Kyle Larson, Lockheed Martin Corporation)
“Of course, losing an F-35 or two doesn’t have any great meaning, except if the pilot is hurt, of course,” Aboulafia told Task & Purpose. Targeting the terror group’s decentralized leadership was not a good idea, he said.
“That’s a recipe for trouble,” Aboulafia said. “When the Israelis have used F-35s, say, in Syria, it’s been a lot more discrete: Here is this specific mission; there is this specific target; let’s do it. If you’re just doing an ongoing campaign of targeting a variety of terrorist cells or what have you, I really don’t understand why you’d use F-35s.”
The Houthis also do not have the types of infrastructure that F-35s are meant to destroy, including ground-based radars, airfields, and shipyards, he said.
A Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft approaches a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 1700th Air Refueling Squadron Provisional for refueling during Operation Desert Shield.
The Houthis have also routinely claimed to have damaged or destroyed Tornado, F-15, and F-16 crewed combat jets, as well as drones, belonging to the Saudi Arabian-led coalition during fighting in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
This should go down as lessons learned by the military and move forward. Hopefully, they will release the details of precisely what happened.
About the Author:
Steve Balestrieri is a 19FortyFive National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing for 19FortyFive, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications
