The U.S. Marine Corps, amid its ambitious modernization efforts, has been eyeing the successful asymmetric naval tactics of Houthi rebels to enhance its own strategies for potential conflicts with sophisticated adversaries like China.

The Iran-backed Houthis have posed significant challenges to powerful naval forces, including the U.S. Navy, by employing low-cost drones and anti-ship missiles to threaten and disrupt shipping routes through vital waterways such as the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

These disruptive tactics have not been lost on the Marine Corps, which, through its Force Design initiative, seeks to reimagine the Marines as a more nimble and dispersed force capable of operating within an adversary’s weapon engagement zone.

The Corps’ vision includes leveraging smaller, stealthy units that work in tandem with the Navy to monitor and obstruct enemy vessels, closely mirroring Houthi operations.

According to Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, “The Houthis figure out the locations of ships and then launch drones and fire anti-ship missiles at them, then they move to another location, making it harder to track them.” This approach has compelled the U.S. military to undertake “very aggressive, persistent surveillance and targeting” to counteract these threats.

Even with their limited resources, the Houthis have demonstrated that a land-based force equipped with the right tools can significantly challenge maritime operations. This insight is particularly relevant as the Marine Corps refocuses on littoral combat and sea control in the face of rising tensions with naval powers.

Marine Lt. Col. Travis Hord, a student at the Joint Advanced Warfighting School who previously worked on the Marine Corps’ future concepts, underscored the parallels between the Corps’ distributed operations concept and Houthi tactics.

“What the Houthis are showing is that you might be able to do that because they’ve been able to do it against us to some degree,” Hord explained.

The Houthis’ actions have also highlighted the costly nature of traditional missile defense systems. With the warships launching multi-million-dollar missiles to intercept Houthi drones worth mere thousands, the economic imbalance is striking.

Moreover, the commercial sector feels the strain as shipping companies divert around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the risk-ridden Red Sea.

Critics within the Marine community have raised concerns about the Corps’ move towards sea-denial operations, arguing that the Force Design could come at the expense of other capabilities that have traditionally defined the Marines.

Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni questions the effectiveness of these new tactics and whether they align with the Corps’ historical strengths in readiness, deployability, and flexibility.

In response to these new challenges, the Marines are contemplating adopting missile strategies that can overwhelm an enemy’s defenses, drawing from lessons learned from Houthi engagements.

Although the Marine Corps has not publicly disclosed how extensively Houthi strategies have influenced its modernization plans, their 2021 document on stand-in forces references the Houthis’ actions as an example of effective reconnaissance and sea denial in contested areas.

As the Marine Corps charts its path forward, the Houthi tactics serve as a case study in asymmetric warfare that could reshape the future of littoral combat. With the Force Design receiving the backing of Pentagon decision-makers and Congress, the Marine Corps continues to refine its capabilities, aiming to maintain its strategic edge in an ever-evolving battlespace.