Houthi militants are attempting to produce their own advanced medium-range ballistic missiles using Chinese-delivered parts, a new report shows, a technological advance that would raise the threat posed by the Iran-backed group.
The Houthis shipped in from a Chinese supplier a range of components needed to make a version of one of Iran’s most powerful weapons, the Kheibar Shekan Iranian precision-guided missile , said the report by Conflict Armament Research, a group that works in conflict zones and reports on the use of weapons and their supply chains. The Houthi missile would have a range up to about 1,200 miles, putting all of Saudi Arabia and Israel within reach.
Iran used the Kheibar Shekan—a cheap, mobile, precision weapon first displayed in Tehran in 2022—against American bases with some success during the war with the U.S. last spring, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported.
The Houthis have amped up attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks in a bid to break a Riyadh-led blockade . The attacks, along with Iran’s continued hits on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, have pushed oil prices higher and angered President Trump . On Tuesday, Trump said the Houthis were behaving “very badly” in a post on his Social Truth platform.
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The Conflict Armament report—viewed by the Journal before publication—was based on information from Yemeni authorities in July after officials interdicted two shipments last year, which included the missile equipment hidden among a range of other goods.
“When you have imports like that, there is a possibility that they are already manufacturing or that they are trying and it doesn’t really work out,” said Fabian Hinz , senior analyst at Conflict Armament. He said the Houthis weapons facilities are so well camouflaged that it is unclear how far along missile production has proceeded.
The Kheibar Shekan is more effective than other Iranian-made missiles because of its ability to maneuver out of the way of air defenses.
In some variants, the nose section carrying the explosive warhead detaches during the final phase of flight and uses a small engine to adjust direction as it nears its target at 6,000 miles an hour, according to analysts and officials.
The Houthis have become more autonomous and capable of producing their own weapons after years of being dependent on Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, said Mohammed al-Basha , founder of Basha Report, a Washington-based risk-advisory firm. Tehran had long shipped in missiles for the Houthis to reassemble and use.
“They have developed domestic manufacturing capabilities with artificial intelligence for drone and missile softwares, diversified their supply chains, accumulated operational experience, and established relationships with regional smugglers and international procurement networks,” Basha said.
The Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization under a United Nations arms embargo, have expanded their links in recent years with China and other suppliers.
Chinese companies are now the biggest source of seized goods bound for the Houthis, according to U.N. reports and data gathered by arms experts. Most of the Houthis’ U.S.-sanctioned drone parts suppliers are based in China, the data show.
Henry Thompson , a former expert on the U.N.’s Yemen sanctions panel, said there is evidence that the Houthis have been importing components for solid-fuel ballistic missiles from China for at least two years.
With medium-range ballistic missiles, “the Houthis can reach deep into Saudi Arabia with a bigger payload than cruise missiles and drones,” he said. “They are going to be a more potent threat.”
China says it is respecting the U.N. ban on arms sales to the Yemeni faction. While some of the components imported by the Houthis were dual-use goods which could be used for civilian purposes, some were parts specifically designed for missile use.
Michael Knights , head of research at strategic-advisory firm Horizon Engage, said the use of China’s components in the Houthis’ ballistic missiles shows Beijing has “neither the will nor the means to control the final destination of its dual-use technologies.”
The U.S. last year accused a Chinese company of helping the Houthis stage attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea.
The imported parts include custom-made metal missile components, including parts of the motor and of the airframe, the missile’s basic structure. Also found were fins which stabilize the missile in flight and parts of a solid-propellant rocket motor of a Kheibar Shekan-series missile. Yemeni authorities seized tools, testing equipment and raw materials, including the ablative material which protects sections of the missile from the intense heat produced by a ballistic missile.
Photographs of the key components were presented in the Conflict Armament report. The group’s experts had in late 2024 documented imports of similar custom-made machined parts for the shorter-range Sadr missile, although it isn’t known who supplied those materials.
Conflict Armament was shown shipping documentation for the equipment detailed in July which identified a Chinese precision-metal producer that advertises itself as a specialist manufacturer of custom aerospace parts. The company wasn’t named in the report.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com and Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com