Houthi drones can become more ghost and fly further
More than a year ago, the Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked commercial ships and warships in the Red Sea with missiles, drones and a quick council loaded with explosives, which led to the disruption of world trade through one of the world’s most freight corridors.
With the pretext of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, the Houthis hit ships of 100 miles off the Yemeni coast, which prompted the reprisal air strikes by us and Israeli warplanes.
The Houthis, who supported Iran, stopped their attacks to a large extent when Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in January. But the evidence examined by arms researchers show that the rebels may have acquired a new technology that makes drones more difficult to discover and help them fly even further.
“It is possible that the Houthis will give a surprise against us or the Israeli military forces if they want to restart any of these conflicts,” said Timur Khan, who is investigating the Israeli military forces if they wanted to restart any of these conflicts. Conflict armament researchA British group that defines and tracks the weapons and ammunition used in wars all over the world.
Mr. Khan traveled to southwestern Yemen in November to document parts of the hydrogen fuel cell system that was found by government forces in a small boat abroad, along with other weapons known to be used by Houthi fighters.
Hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity by the reaction of oxygen in the air and compressed hydrogen through a series of charged metal panels. They release water vapor, but a little heat or noise.
Houthi drones that work on traditional roads such as gas burning engines or lithium batteries can fly about 750 miles. But hydrogen fuel cells will enable them to fly three times that distance and make it more difficult for audio and infrared sensors than to discover them.
Steering armament research clarifying its results In a report issued on Thursday. The group studied shipping documents that show that the components of fuel cells were made by companies in China, which announce their use of drones, and compressed hydrogen tanks that were questioned as oxygen.
Mr. Khan said it is not after knowing whether the elements come directly from China. But a new source of weapons components can give the Houthis a strategic boost.
Mr. Khan said that the Houthi arms shipments that were intercepted at sea are usually made or sent from Iran. He added: “If the Houthis capture these elements on their own, the shipment that we saw will promote a new supply chain of commercial markets that increase self -sufficiency, instead of relying on its supporters in the region.”
The boat examined by Mr. Khan was intercepted at the sea in August by the Yemenis Forces It is in line with the country The internationally recognized government. The elements on the artillery missiles accompanied by guidelines, small -made engines in Europe that can operate the flight, radar and ship tracking devices, as well as hundreds of commercial drones in addition to the parts of hydrogen fuel cells.
Hydrogen -based electrical energy with contract cells is contract, and NASA has used it during Apollo’s missions. Its use of drone has appeared in the late first decade of the twentieth century during the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the following years, the strength of the hydrogen has become more common for military drones. Its ability to expand its scope has made it attractive for commercial uses, such as examining pipelines, energy lines and marine wind farms, according to Andy Kelly of Smart energyAnd it is a British company that makes the hydrogen fuel cells used in drones that many American companies are now selling to the Ministry of Defense.
Mr. Kelly said: “The longer their prolonged in the air, the more data they can collect,” said Mr. Kelly. “It is a long -term survey key.”
He said that the hydrogen systems can store three times more energy than the equal weight lithium batteries, allowing the drone operator to carry more weight at a longer distance.
Mr. Kelly said that fuel cells also produce little vibrations to insist surveillance cameras and other sensors on a drone, adding that they can be reused several times more than rechargeable batteries are usually used to push drones.
Armamement Conflict refused to nominate Chinese companies that made the components that were recovered near Yemen, a policy that ensures that researchers can work in particular with companies to determine how their products are finished in the hands of different entities.