Yemen New News | News | Special Coverage:
France has acknowledged, through a commander in its navy, the superior capabilities of the military forces in Sanaa and has announced the withdrawal of its frigate “Alsace” from the Red Sea after its defensive systems failed to counter Sanaa’s attacks.
According to the French newspaper “Le Figaro,” the French naval frigate “Alsace” returned from its operational mission in the Red Sea after experiencing, according to its commander Jerome Henry, an unprecedented level of attacks by Houthi forces using drones, ballistic missiles, and naval weapons.
The French Navy announced that the “Alsace,” an Aquitaine-class frigate, returned to the port of Toulon last week after a 71-day mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as part of the European Union Naval Force’s Operation Atalanta.
Henry stated in an interview with the newspaper, “The Houthis in the Red Sea have shown an unlimited offensive strength.”
He added, “The French Navy has not witnessed this level of armament for a very long time. We did not necessarily expect this level of threat. The Houthis do not hesitate to use low-flying drones over the water and launch ballistic missiles.”
The newspaper stated, “The French commander noted that the level of threat has increased since the deployment of ‘Alsace,’ starting initially with attacks by one-way drones, followed by the regular use of ballistic missiles. In addition to conventional ballistic missiles, the Houthis also used anti-ship ballistic missiles, a related category of weapons that has not been used in battles until the current campaign.”
The newspaper quoted the commander of the French frigate that withdrew from the Red Sea as saying, “There were previous concerns about the ability of the Maritime Operations team of ‘Atalanta’ to deal with the intensity of the attacks that the Houthis have shown the ability to launch.”
The newspaper also mentioned the confusion among European naval forces present in the Red Sea in the face of Sanaa’s attacks, referring to the incident described as “the worst.” It stated that in February, it was revealed that the German Navy’s frigate “Hessen” accidentally fired two SM-2 missiles at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone. The Reaper survived the incident only because these missiles failed to function as expected for reasons that are still unclear.
It also highlighted the “problems that appeared on board the Royal Danish Navy frigate ‘Iver Huitfeldt,’ which was supporting ‘Atalanta.’ The radar and missile systems on board the warship failed during a drone attack by the Houthis.”
Furthermore, it was reported that the warship was unable to launch ESSM air defense missiles for half an hour, and “half” of the shells fired from the 76mm dual-purpose guns exploded prematurely and near the ship.
The failure of the Danish frigate’s defense system to counter Sanaa’s strikes “led to the dismissal of Danish Chief of Defense, General Flemming Lentfer, from his position and the withdrawal of the frigate from the Red Sea and its return to the country.”
