RAF strikes on Houthis before CSG25 passes through Red Sea branded no coincidence
It is no coincidence that the UK has resumed strikes on Houthi drone facilities weeks before the Royal Navy's flagship is set to transit through the Red Sea, a defence expert has said.
Professor Michael Clarke, a resident analyst on BFBS Forces News' Sitrep podcast, said his first question when heard of the strikes was "why now?".
"My guess is that Britain is doing this partly to stand with the United States," he said.
"This is a good time to show the US that we do actually have something useful, that we can do something that they would find valuable.
"There are all sorts of rumours on the go at the moment that the UAE… is organising a ground offensive of rebel forces or pro-government rebel forces now against the Houthis."
"It looks as if a bigger Yemeni crisis is on the horizon, linked to a real attempt to push the Houthis out," he explained.
"Britain is not part of that, but equally does not want to be excluded from joint British-American operations on freedom of navigation.
"I think we're treading a fairly thin line here and we'll have to do this very carefully."
Prof Clarke said the strikes by the UK were in line with the ones carried out during the previous Biden administration.
He also pointed to Carrier Strike Group 25's expected passage of the Red Sea in the coming weeks.
"I think that, in a sense, is part of the thin line… which Britain is following in this crisis," he said.
"The fact is the Prince of Wales carrier battle group will be going through the danger area.
"There's plenty of warships in the area anyway, and it is well capable of defending itself, but we'll see when it comes to it, it will be a rather tense moment."
Carrier Strike Group 25 could be in the area at the same time as three American battle groups, Prof Clarke pointed out.
It comes after a leak from the top-level group chat on Signal, where the US Vice President JD Vance said he hated bailing out Europe, and US defence secretary Pete Hegseth complained about "pathetic European freeloading".
It also detailed US strikes on Houthi targets, describing them as a good start.
Prof Clarke said: "They said it's a good start, meaning that this is part of a policy, a Trump policy, to be assertive in this particular area for these particular purposes.
"The deeper rationale… is that they look as if they're taking on the Houthis because they intend, as part of their campaign against Iran, to do something about the Houthis exactly as they think the Israelis have done something about Hamas.
"They've done something about Hezbollah, now the Americans are going to do something about the Houthis - and the Iranians will have to take note that all of their clients are being taken off the map as strategic players."
You can listen to Sitrep wherever you get your podcasts, including on the Forces News YouTube channel.
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