Houthi rebels have built up a "capability that only very few countries have," said Fabian Hinz of the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.
I mean, yeah, but that’s just because most countries don’t invest heavily into anti-ship missiles. That’s more of a superpower thing usually–they’re hella expensive, and you’re generally only using them if you’re at war with a naval power of some sort. Then, when you want to actually sink a (non-Russian) combat ship with them, you need to fire a shitload to oversaturate the missile defense and get a good chance of a hit.
So, you want a lot of them too.
Expensive, need a lot of them, and having limited utility? Yes, a very niche capability. Especially when submarines also exist, are also good at sinking ships, and are re-useable.
I mean, yeah, but that’s just because most countries don’t invest heavily into anti-ship missiles. That’s more of a superpower thing usually–they’re hella expensive, and you’re generally only using them if you’re at war with a naval power of some sort. Then, when you want to actually sink a (non-Russian) combat ship with them, you need to fire a shitload to oversaturate the missile defense and get a good chance of a hit.
So, you want a lot of them too.
Expensive, need a lot of them, and having limited utility? Yes, a very niche capability. Especially when submarines also exist, are also good at sinking ships, and are re-useable.