{"id":808688,"date":"2026-10-20T14:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/808688\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T14:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:44:11","slug":"uk-to-deploy-typhoon-jets-to-help-defend-saudi-arabia-from-houthi-attacks-houthis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/808688\/","title":{"rendered":"UK to deploy Typhoon jets to help defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks | Houthis News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__subhead\">Ministry of Defence says warplanes will operate in \u2018defensive role\u2019 and not be used to attack Yemeni group.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"avatar\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/daniel_khalili_tari_200622093119727\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Me-1-1778058603.jpg\"   aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Published On 20 Oct 202620 Oct 2026<\/p>\n<p>The United Kingdom has said it will deploy fighter jets to help protect Saudi Arabia from attacks by Yemen\u2019s Houthis.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Tuesday, the British Ministry of Defence said the Typhoon warplanes would operate in a \u201cdefensive role\u201d and not carry out attacks against the Iranian-backed armed group.<\/p>\n<p>Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe UK will fly defensive counter air missions to support the protection of Saudi cities and critical national infrastructure against aerial attack, using RAF Typhoon fighter jets,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n<p>The support includes an extension of air-to-air refuelling support for Saudi air operations, the ministry added.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes amid heavy fighting between the Houthis \u2013 also known as Ansar Allah, Arabic for Supporters of God \u2013 and Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, the Houthis have carried out missile and drone strikes against the kingdom, including oil facilities and Riyadh\u2019s main airport, while the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government has launched air attacks on Houthi positions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe continuing attacks from the Houthis on our ally Saudi Arabia are absolutely despicable. The targeting of the airport in Riyadh in particular shows the lengths the Houthis are going to escalate the situation in the region,\u201d UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why today I have approved further UK military support. RAF Typhoons will fly defensive air missions to help protect Saudi airspace from drones and missiles. This builds on the UK equipment and personnel we already have in the country to defend against Houthi air attacks,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting from London, Al Jazeera\u2019s Camille Nedelec said the UK government\u2019s decision was partly driven by growing concerns over rising energy prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s happening in the Gulf has a direct impact on people\u2019s homes,\u201d she said, adding that the move \u201cshows increasing engagement by the UK\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n<p>The UK announcement came a day after Egypt\u2019s parliament <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/10\/19\/egyptian-parliament-delays-vote-on-military-support-for-saudi-arabia\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">delayed<\/a> for a second day a vote on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi\u2019s request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia, if the kingdom asked for its support.<\/p>\n<p>State media said the new session would be held on October 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ministry of Defence says warplanes will operate in \u2018defensive role\u2019 and not be used to attack Yemeni group.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[591,59,57,58,57308,585,632,151,50,5386,56,54,55,25322],"class_list":["post-808688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-europe","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-houthis","tag-iran","tag-middle-east","tag-military","tag-news","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-yemen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}