The Houthi group posted a video of the Tufan-1 suicide boat equipped with a 150 kg explosive, demonstrating its capability to destroy a small, abandoned vessel at sea.
A video released by the Houthi armed group in Yemen on June 22 shows several Tufan-1 unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) displayed on racks. These boats feature a V-shaped hull, similar to some suicide USVs used by Ukraine in the Black Sea.
The footage reveals the Houthi forces testing the boat, moving at high speed on water with a person inside, indicating it has dual control modes: remote and manual. The video then cuts to the USV striking a small, abandoned vessel at sea.
The impact results in a large explosion and a plume of smoke rising into the sky, leaving a large hole in the target vessel, which is completely destroyed. This is the first time the Houthi group has tested a suicide boat in conditions closely resembling actual combat.
The Houthi also provided aerial footage showing the USV maneuvering before hitting the target vessel, seemingly simulating evasive maneuvers to avoid defensive fire.
The Houthi claim the Tufan-1 is armed with a 150 kg warhead and has a speed of around 65 km/h. They did not specify the USV’s operational range but mentioned it uses a commercial outboard motor optimized for targeting “both stationary and mobile maritime targets.”
“The Tufan-1 is significantly smaller than many other Houthi USVs, making it faster, more maneuverable, and harder to hit. The scale of the explosion also indicates the warhead on the boat has substantial destructive power,” noted Thomas Newdick, a military expert from War Zone.
The Houthi are believed to have started developing suicide USVs in the mid-2010s and have repeatedly used them to attack merchant ships and warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, especially after the Gaza conflict erupted late last year, as a show of support for the Palestinian people.
Last week, a Houthi USV hit the Liberian-flagged ship Tutor in the Red Sea, causing it to take on water and sink a few days later. This was the first time a Houthi suicide boat successfully hit a target since the conflict began.
The USV used in this attack had a different design from the Tufan-1. It resembled a small fishing boat often seen in coastal waters, carrying a pair of human-like mannequins to confuse the defenses of warships and merchant vessels.
A similar Houthi suicide boat, with a 50 kg warhead—much smaller than the Tufan-1—drifted into the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in January.
