Military website: US fighters used laser-guided missiles to shoot down Houthi drones

The War News website quoted a US military official as saying that US Air Force F-16 fighters used laser-guided missiles to shoot down Houthi drones during operations in the Red Sea last year.

The US official did not mention the number of missiles used, the number of Houthi drones shot down by these missiles, or the exact date of the first use of these missiles to target Houthi drones, considering this option to be "less expensive compared to other options."

The report indicated that the laser can be used to identify the target during an air engagement, as one aircraft identifies the target for another aircraft, and given the difference in speed between the Houthi drones and the F-16 aircraft, one aircraft can keep the target fixed while the other carries out its attack.

The site's report also touched on other military advantages of using laser-guided missiles, including that they are perfectly suitable for targeting Houthi drones, are less expensive than using existing air-to-air missiles to deal with targets such as drones, and provide better depth.

According to the report, “US military operations to defend Israel last year confirmed the importance of greater depth in the face of mass attacks by drones and missiles.”

The report finds that recent crises across the Middle East “have provided the U.S. military with a range of important lessons learned in general. They have also highlighted concerns about weapons spending rates and inventory adequacy, issues that will only become more apparent in a high-profile battle, such as one in the Pacific against China.”

The site noted that different levels of drones "have become a constant element on modern battlefields, as well as an increasing threat to military assets and vital infrastructure outside traditional conflict zones."

Report text:

U.S. Air Force F-16 Vipers used 70mm laser-guided rockets to shoot down Houthi drones during operations in and around the Red Sea last year.

The service first announced that it had demonstrated its ability to use the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II ) missiles, originally developed to target ground targets, as a less expensive and more numerous air-to-air weapon in 2019, but that was just a test. No operational capability has been revealed yet.

A US military official exclusively confirmed to TWZ that the APKWS II has been used in an air-to-air role. The official could not immediately confirm how many missiles were used in this manner, how many Houthi drones were shot down as a result, or the exact date of the first use of this capability in combat.

The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen began launching drone, missile, and other attacks against foreign warships and commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea, as well as targets in Israel, in October 2023.

The APWKS II’s air-to-air missile capability was first used last year “as one of several options to counter the Houthi drone threat,” the official told us. “It’s a lower-cost option compared to the AIM-9X . That lower cost is one of the benefits of using it.”

The unit cost of the current Block II generation AIM-9X Sidewinder missile is Just under $420,000, according to Pentagon budget documents.

For further context, US forces have also spent variants of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM ), which cost more than $1 million each, in the course of operations against the Houthis.

Currently, the APKWS II guidance and control section costs about $15,000, with a few thousand more dollars required for the warhead and motor.

The only difference between the APKWS II and the standard 70mm unguided rockets is the introduction of a guidance and control section between the warhead in the front and the engine in the rear.

In this way, it has long provided a low-cost precision-guided munition that can be built from existing components and provides a variety of different effects depending on the warhead (and fuze) used.

In December 2023, the US Navy said it was about to begin delivering a new warhead with a proximity fuse specifically optimized for anti-drone use, though it is supposed to work with ground-based systems that use these laser-guided missiles in a surface-to-air role. The general ability of the APKWS II to operate as a surface-to-air interceptor has now been demonstrated in Ukraine.

The proximity-fueled APKWS II systems appear equally well suited for use in the air-to-air role. As noted, the Air Force announced in 2019 that it had conducted what it called a proof-of-concept test of laser-guided missiles against air targets, primarily as a potential low-cost option for shooting down subsonic cruise missiles. TWZ highlighted at the time how this same capability would be equally useful against drones.

There were already signs that the APKWS II system In the air-to-air role it has become an operational capability. In December, U.S. Air Forces Central ( AFCENT ), the top air force command in the Middle East, released photos of a pair of F-16Cs refueling somewhere over the Red Sea with what appear to be air-to-air-focused payloads.

One aircraft was armed with two AIM-120 missiles, two AIM-9X missiles, and two older AIM-9M missiles. The other aircraft had a pair of AIM-120 missiles, one of each Sidewinder type, and a seven-shot 70 mm rocket pod. Both aircraft also carried LITENING targeting pods and High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile Targeting System ( HTS ) pods.

In air combat, the laser designator in the LITENING pod can be used to designate the target. The LITENING sensor turret can be connected to the radar on the aircraft carrying it, or vice versa.

A so-called laser escort, where one aircraft marks the target for another, could also be useful in this case, especially given the speed difference between typical Houthi drones and F-16s . One aircraft could hold the target still while the other attacks.

APKWS II missiles can be used against UAVs, as well as subsonic cruise missiles, primarily because they are relatively stationary, non-reactive, and low-performance targets. The missiles are not air-to-air combat weapons.

Over the past two weeks, U.S. Air Forces Central Command has released two additional sets of images showing F-16Cs with the same weapons loads, as shown below.

A similar payload, including a single 70mm seven-shot rocket pod, has been spotted on USAF F-16C and D aircraft based in Japan, suggesting that this is now a standard option across the USAF.

It is no surprise that the APKWS II is being used in an air-to-air role in the context of the ongoing crisis in and around the Red Sea as well. The capability is well-suited to the situation and, as noted, gives pilots a less expensive option over existing air-to-air missiles to engage targets such as drones.

Laser-guided missiles also provide valuable magazine depth, with just one pod holding multiple engagement opportunities while occupying only one turret. For the F-16 , a seven-round pod loaded with APKWS II missiles is more than the number of air-to-air munitions the aircraft can carry.

Separate U.S. operations in defense of Israel last year underscored the importance of greater magazine depth in the face of mass drone and missile attacks, with jets having to land to reload while threats were still flying overhead. At least one F-15E Strike Eagle crew switched to guns after running out of missiles, but failed to shoot down any targets.

Recent crises across the Middle East have provided the U.S. military with a range of important lessons learned overall. They have also highlighted concerns about weapons spending rates and inventory adequacy, issues that will only become more pronounced in a high-profile battle, such as the one being waged in the Pacific against China.

In addition, various levels of drones have already become a fixture on modern battlefields, as well as the growing threat to military assets and critical infrastructure outside traditional conflict zones, something TWZ has been drawing attention to for years now.

Drone technology, coupled with swarm capabilities, supported by advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, is set to continue to improve and proliferate, even among non-state actors like the Houthis. This in turn can only place additional emphasis on more economical options, such as the APKWS II , to help defeat large numbers of hostile UAS.

There is also a clear possibility of future use of APKWS IIs in an air-to-air role on platforms beyond the F-16 , if this has not already happened. To date, laser-guided missiles have been integrated on the U.S. Marine Corps' AV-8B Harrier and F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters, as well as the Air Force's A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft.

The U.S. Marine Corps' AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom , and the Army's MH-60R/S Seahawk and AH-64 Apaches can also launch APKWS II . If nothing else, APKWS II missiles are now officially a combat-proven air-to-air option for the Air Force's F-16s .