The U.S. military has conducted more than 800 airstrikes against Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen since March 15, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

The announcement, made this past week, offers a rare glimpse into the scale of American operations in the region, where military activity has intensified over the past month and a half.

“These strikes have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, advanced weapons storage locations, and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” CENTCOM spokesman Dave Eastburn said in a statement, echoing comments previously given to reporters.

Eastburn added that “[c]redible open sources report over 650 Houthi casualties to date,” although could not independently verify if all those killed were members of the Houthi movement.

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CENTCOM further stated that Houthi ballistic missile launches have dropped by 87%, and launches of one-way attack drones are down 65%.

These figures mark a significant update in the ongoing campaign, which has otherwise been characterized by limited public disclosure.

Despite multiple posts on the social media site X showing aircraft launching from carriers and messages boasting “24/7” operations against the Houthis, the Pentagon has remained largely silent on the precise number of strikes and their overall impact.

After confirming that operations were underway on March 15, CENTCOM has kept details vague, leaving much of the campaign’s scope unclear until now.

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One notable exception came on April 18, when the U.S. military acknowledged a strike on the Ras Isa port in western Yemen, which killed several dozen people. Outside of such instances, updates have been sparse.

The Yemen Data Project, an independent monitoring group, reported that March 2025 saw the second-highest number of airstrikes since the escalation began in late 2023, surpassed only by February 2024.

The uptick in strikes followed two months of relative calm before Houthi forces announced their intent to renew attacks on critical shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis began targeting international shipping in October 2023 amid the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. These attacks led to a series of defensive actions by American and allied navies, including the interception of dozens of missiles and drones aimed at commercial and military vessels.

Since then, two commercial ships have been sunk as a result of Houthi strikes. From January 2024 to January 2025, the United States and its partners carried out several airstrikes in Yemen apart from direct interception operations.

However, the campaign has not been without incident: at the end of 2024, a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet was accidentally shot down by American forces.

The fighting has intensified over the past two months. According to the Associated Press, Houthi forces shot down seven U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper drones between March 31 and April 22, resulting in roughly $200 million in losses.

Remarkably, three of those drones were shot down in just one week. This marks a sharp rise in U.S. drone losses compared to previous phases of the conflict.

The Atlantic Council reported that Houthis had previously claimed to have shot down 14 American drones between the fall of 2023 and the end of 2024.

Neither CENTCOM nor Houthi officials have publicly explained the recent surge in drone shootdowns, leaving unanswered questions about any changes in tactics or technology on either side.

While the Pentagon has offered little information on the number of mid-air intercepts over the past six weeks, Houthi forces have continued to claim that they are targeting U.S. Navy ships.

The Navy, for its part, has confirmed that it has intercepted multiple one-way attack drones aimed at its vessels but has not provided specific figures.

From October 2023 through December 2024, such intercepts were a near-daily occurrence as American forces worked to defend vital maritime routes.

This persistent high tempo of operations has stretched the Navy’s resources and logistics.

The scale of engagements—by some measures the Navy’s most intense combat since World War II—has exposed the disparity between the inexpensive weapons used by the Houthis and the costly munitions deployed by the United States.

For much of the past year, U.S. forces have relied heavily on expensive Standard Missiles and other advanced munitions, with costs ranging from $2 million to as much as $27.9 million each.

By the end of Operation Poseidon Archer—the codename for the strikes carried out from January 2024 to January 2025—the Navy reported firing approximately 400 munitions, including 120 SM-2 missiles.

Given the enormous costs, the Navy has said it is actively pursuing cheaper alternatives to sustain the current pace of operations without straining defense budgets further.

As the conflict enters its next phase, the United States faces a complex balancing act: maintaining pressure on Houthi forces while managing the escalating costs of a campaign that shows little sign of slowing down.

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