Near-Miss with Houthi Missile Raises Fresh Doubts About U.S. F-35 Fighter
A recent incident in which a U.S. F-35 fighter jet narrowly evaded a Houthi missile strike has reignited debate over the jet’s capabilities—and how it's being deployed in combat zones.
According to a U.S. official speaking anonymously, the stealth aircraft was nearly struck by a surface-to-air missile fired by Houthi forces while flying a mission under Operation Rough Rider, Washington’s ongoing air campaign aimed at degrading the military capacity of the Yemeni militant group.
“The missile got close enough that the pilot had to take evasive action,” the official said.
The comment followed previous revelations that several F-16s and one F-35 had narrowly escaped Houthi missiles during the first month of the campaign. While the Pentagon has yet to issue an official statement, some analysts interpret the silence as an implicit acknowledgment of the seriousness of the situation.
“This shows just how dangerous the environment is for U.S. aircraft during Rough Rider,” wrote Jeff Schogol, a military editor at Task & Purpose.
The F-35, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is considered one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world, with a unit cost between $80 million and $100 million depending on variant. With roughly 1,000 jets already delivered to the U.S. and its allies, the program is projected to cost over $2.1 trillion through 2088.
Dan Grazier, a senior defense fellow at the Stimson Center, warned that the U.S. military would face a “disaster” if a non-state group like the Houthis managed to shoot one down.
“The F-35 was supposed to be the future of air combat—capable of surviving even the most hostile environments,” Grazier said. “If it gets taken down by a group like the Houthis, all of those claims fall apart.”
He argued that despite years of development, the F-35’s combat readiness remains limited. Its advanced weapons and features depend on frequent software and systems upgrades—many of which have faced delays.
Grazier said he found the incident “surprising, but not shocking,” considering the current state of the program. “If it can’t survive this level of conflict, it raises real questions about how it would perform in a high-intensity war—the very scenario it was designed for.”
The F-35 has long struggled with reliability. According to Air Force Times, the Air Force’s F-35A variant saw its mission-capable rate drop from 69% in 2021 to just over 51% by 2024.
However, other analysts suggest the issue isn’t with the aircraft’s design—but rather how the U.S. is employing it. Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, said the Pentagon is misusing the jet in ways that undercut its effectiveness.
“They’re sending it on missions it wasn’t meant for,” Aboulafia said, pointing to how Israel has used its F-35I variant in precision strikes over Syria—hit-and-run tactics that play to the aircraft’s stealth advantages.
In contrast, the U.S. campaign against the Houthis involves a dispersed network of targets, including mobile missile systems and leadership compounds scattered across Yemen. That environment has forced the F-35 to loiter longer and expose itself more frequently to enemy fire.
“I don’t understand why they’re using the F-35 for extended missions against mobile, low-value targets. The Houthis don’t have the type of hardened infrastructure this jet was built to destroy,” he added.
Aboulafia also noted that Houthi air defenses have proven effective before, citing their role in damaging Saudi-led coalition aircraft from 2015 to 2022. He drew a comparison to the 1999 Kosovo War, when a Serbian S-125 system shot down a U.S. F-117 stealth jet.
“No aircraft is invincible,” he said. “Losses are inevitable in war. If F-35s keep circling over Yemen, something bad will eventually happen. But unless a pilot is injured or killed, losing a jet or two won’t be a strategic crisis for the U.S.”
(Sources: Task & Purpose, The War Zone)
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