Saudi Arabia is struggling to shield its cities, airports and energy infrastructure from an intensifying assault by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, despite maintaining one of the most expensive and technologically advanced arsenals in the world.
Missile and drone barrages launched from Yemen have struck Saudi airports, including deadly hits on the main airport serving the capital, Riyadh, over the past week. The attacks have killed at least 14 people, disrupted commercial aviation, damaged energy targets and forced schoolchildren and workers to stay indoors across the kingdom, according to NBC News and CNN.
In response, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen launched strikes on Tuesday targeting Houthi fuel installations, including storage depots, tanks and unloading berths in Sana’a, Dhamar and Hodeidah, ABC News reported. Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the rebels used those facilities to fuel the drones and missiles fired at Saudi territory and Red Sea commercial vessels.
Vast Territory and Strained Interceptors
The strikes highlight the severe operational challenge confronting Saudi air defenses. The kingdom budgeted $83 billion for military spending in 2026, ranking it among the world’s top defense spenders. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Saudi Arabia was the leading buyer of American armaments between 2021 and 2025, taking in 12 percent of all U.S. arms exports. Its inventory includes American-made F-15 fighter jets, Patriot missile batteries and THAAD anti-missile systems, alongside armaments purchased from France and the United Kingdom.
Yet protecting the country requires guarding an expanse roughly three times the size of Texas, or about one-fifth the size of the United States. Saudi territory is exposed on several fronts: to the south across an 800-mile desert frontier with Yemen, to the north where Iraqi militias have struck an East-West pipeline, and to the east where Iran launched roughly 1,000 projectiles during earlier escalations, CNN reported.
Regional officials have warned that the kingdom is running low on interceptor missiles after expending large quantities, NBC News reported. Although Riyadh signed a $9 billion agreement earlier this year with Washington to purchase 730 Patriot missiles, the U.S. defense industrial base faces its own bottlenecks and munition shortfalls, according to a U.S. Defense Department Inspector General report cited by CNN.
Evolving Houthi Capabilities
Once viewed as a localized militia, the Houthis have expanded into an estimated 350,000-strong force that controls approximately one-third of Yemen, United Nations monitors reported. U.N. panels previously confirmed that the group obtained Iranian-designed hardware, including drones and ballistic missiles such as the Hatem-2 and Palestine-2, which can strike targets well over 1,000 miles away.
Military analysts told NBC News and CNN that the Houthis have honed tactics similar to Russian barrages in Ukraine, launching low-flying cruise missiles alongside drones and maneuverable ballistic missiles to oversaturate radar networks. Experience gained from firing hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel since October 2023 has sharpened the group’s ability to penetrate advanced air defenses, according to Andreas Krieg, a professor at King’s College London.
“Expecting a country the size of Saudi Arabia to intercept every missile is simply unrealistic. No defense can guarantee complete protection,” Saudi analyst Ali Shihabi said in an online assessment.
Diplomatic and Strategic Dilemma
The escalation threatens Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s broader economic transformation plans, which rely on attracting foreign investment, tourism and multinational corporations to Riyadh. Major international corporations stayed away from the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh this week as security fears mounted, CNN reported.
Houthi officials have demanded an end to Saudi support for Yemeni government forces, as well as billions of dollars in compensation. Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti claimed the group rejected short-term truce proposals of two weeks and one month.
Saudi Arabia has sought assistance from regional partners, with Pakistan dispatching thousands of soldiers to assist the kingdom and Egypt pledging support. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said this week that his administration is evaluating whether the U.S. military will join Saudi strikes against the rebels, though no decision has been announced.
With Houthi fighters now encircling the strategic Yemeni city of Taiz, experts say a ground campaign remains improbable. Observers expect prolonged aerial skirmishes and proxy engagements while both sides determine whether backchannel mediation, offered recently by Iran, can halt further escalation.
