Houthis building advanced ballistic missiles with Chinese parts: report

Houthi fighters in Yemen are seeking to manufacture their own advanced medium-range ballistic missiles using components sourced from China, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing research by the independent weapons monitoring group Conflict Armament Research.

The group has imported a range of specialized parts needed to produce a local version of Iran’s Kheibar Shekan precision-guided missile, one of Tehran’s most capable weapons.

The resulting Houthi missile would have a range of up to about 1,200 miles (roughly 1,900–2,000 kilometers), placing all of Saudi Arabia and ‘Israel’ within striking distance.

Yemeni government authorities intercepted two shipments of the equipment in 2025, with details provided to researchers in July.

The cargo, concealed among other goods, included custom-made metal components for the missile’s motor and airframe, stabilizing fins, solid-propellant rocket motor parts from the Kheibar Shekan series, ablative heat-shield materials designed to protect against extreme temperatures, testing equipment, and related tools.

“When you have imports like that, there is a possibility that they are already manufacturing or that they are trying and it doesn’t really work out,” Fabian Hinz, a senior analyst at Conflict Armament Research, said to the Wall Street Journal.

He noted that the Houthis’ highly camouflaged facilities make it difficult to determine how advanced their production efforts have become.

The development marks a significant step for the Iran-backed Houthis, a US-designated terrorist group under a United Nations arms embargo that has controlled large parts of Yemen since the civil war began in 2014.

While the group long relied on Iranian-supplied or assembled weapons, analysts say it has increasingly moved toward greater self-reliance by diversifying supply chains and building domestic manufacturing know-how.

“Moving away from the stage of relying on Iran and Hezbollah for years, the Houthis have now grown into an organization self-reliant enough to produce weapons on their own,” Mohammed Al-Basha, founder of the US security consultancy Basha Report, told the WSJ.

He added that the group has incorporated artificial intelligence into missile and drone software, diversified suppliers, and accumulated operational experience.

Henry Thompson, a former member of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, warned of the heightened danger: “There is evidence that the Houthis have been importing components for solid-fuel ballistic missiles from China for at least two years.”

If the group acquires such medium-range missiles, “it will pose a much more fatal threat as they could strike deep into Saudi Arabia with missiles carrying much larger warheads,” he said.

Michael Knights of Horizon Engage observed that the trade shows China has “neither the will nor the means to control the final destination of its dual-use technologies.”

China maintains it respects the UN arms embargo on the Houthis.

Some of the seized materials have potential civilian applications, though others appear purpose-built for missile production.

Chinese companies have emerged as a major source of dual-use goods reaching the group in recent years, even as the Houthis continue to threaten regional shipping and energy infrastructure.