UK to fly RAF Typhoon patrols over Saudi Arabia to help counter Houthi attacks

The United Kingdom will expand military support for Saudi Arabia, including “defensive” air patrols by Royal Air Force Typhoon jets over the kingdom, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Tuesday 20 October, CBS News and AP reported.

Streeting said the jets would “conduct defensive counter-air operations over Saudi Arabia, helping to protect Saudi cities, civilian populations and critical national infrastructure from Houthi attack”. He said British aircraft would not strike Houthi targets in Yemen.

The UK will also send a military transport aircraft and an unspecified number of military advisers, and will extend by 90 days its existing mission refuelling Saudi aircraft in the air, Streeting said.

On Tuesday, Saudi coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said a Houthi ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh had been “intercepted and destroyed”, and that a drone targeting the capital had also been intercepted, CBS News reported. The Houthis said on Monday they had carried out six operations against Saudi targets in 48 hours, describing them as retaliation for Saudi strikes on areas they control.

Background: Fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces has escalated since the summer, as part of the wider regional conflict that followed US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026.