Yemen — Military Capability Assessment
Force structure, readiness, power projection, and deterrence: the Bureau’s strategic assessment of Yemen’s military capability — scored 0–100 across 24 causal dimensions.
Last updated: October 2026
Stronger than 24% of the 195 ranked countries.
Nearest neighbors
| Rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
| #147 | Central African Republic | 29.9/100 |
| #148 | Palau | 29.9/100 |
| #149 | Yemen (you) | 29.7/100 |
| #150 | Armenia | 29.6/100 |
| #151 | Nepal | 29.4/100 |
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Why this score — the assessment, decomposed
The 29.67/100 rests first on Geographic advantage (73.04), Command & control (65.00), Force mass (53.25). The binding constraints: Air power (8.00), Submarine force (8.00), Nuclear survivability (6.50) — in a causal model, capability can never rise above its weakest observed link. What would move the needle: Air power (8.00) — the weak link in the spending → equipment → readiness → capability chain.
- Alliance architecture adds a +5.78 bonus.
- Nuclear deterrence contributes a capped +0.55 bonus — it cannot manufacture top-tier conventional standing on its own.
- Force mass is capped by what equipment, training and sustainment can actually support — headcount alone scores nothing.
7 of 24 dimensions could not be observed (Readiness & training, ISR & intelligence, Missile forces, Air defense, Cyber & space, Strategic lift…); missing data caps the score — it never inflates it.
The six sub-scores
All 24 causal dimensions
Assessment coverage: 73.9% — 17 of 24 dimensions observed. Military assessment, run 2026-10-04; evidence snapshot: CIA World Factbook 2026-09-28, SIPRI arms-producer revenue, nuclear taxonomy.
Air power
Kernel assessment: Air power 8.00/100 (observed).
Recent acquisitions & orders (dated, sourced)
- Stepped-up Iranian training and logistical support: advanced missiles, drones, uncrewed attack boats — None (delivered)
AP via Bastille Post, ~2026-09-23: 'Yemen's Houthi rebels shook up the Mideast with a sudden blitz. Iran helped, sources tell AP'; Iranian advisers present at all levels of Houthi offensive; Iran denies arming Houthis source - 750-tonne weapons shipment: hundreds of advanced cruise, antiship and anti-aircraft missiles bound for the Houthis — hundreds of missiles (seized)
Al Jazeera, 2026-09-29: seized June 2025 by National Resistance Forces (per US CENTCOM) — evidence of supply chain, not a Houthi purchase source - Widespread arms smuggling (drone control devices, engines, missile components) despite UN embargo; Houthis developing missile/drone tech via technical assistance and domestic manufacturing — None (rumored)
Reuters, 2026-09-17: 'How Yemen's Houthis went from a small mountain militia to a big regional threat' — cites 2025 UN panel of experts report and IISS 2025 assessment (Houthis dependent on Iran for key technologies) source
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Land power
Kernel assessment: Land warfare 48.68/100 (observed).
Recent acquisitions & orders (dated, sourced)
- Stepped-up Iranian training and logistical support: advanced missiles, drones, uncrewed attack boats — None (delivered)
AP via Bastille Post, ~2026-09-23: 'Yemen's Houthi rebels shook up the Mideast with a sudden blitz. Iran helped, sources tell AP'; Iranian advisers present at all levels of Houthi offensive; Iran denies arming Houthis source - 750-tonne weapons shipment: hundreds of advanced cruise, antiship and anti-aircraft missiles bound for the Houthis — hundreds of missiles (seized)
Al Jazeera, 2026-09-29: seized June 2025 by National Resistance Forces (per US CENTCOM) — evidence of supply chain, not a Houthi purchase source - Widespread arms smuggling (drone control devices, engines, missile components) despite UN embargo; Houthis developing missile/drone tech via technical assistance and domestic manufacturing — None (rumored)
Reuters, 2026-09-17: 'How Yemen's Houthis went from a small mountain militia to a big regional threat' — cites 2025 UN panel of experts report and IISS 2025 assessment (Houthis dependent on Iran for key technologies) source
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Sea power
Kernel assessment: Naval power 28.80/100 (observed).
Recent acquisitions & orders (dated, sourced)
- 750-tonne weapons shipment: hundreds of advanced cruise, antiship and anti-aircraft missiles bound for the Houthis — hundreds of missiles (seized)
Al Jazeera, 2026-09-29: seized June 2025 by National Resistance Forces (per US CENTCOM) — evidence of supply chain, not a Houthi purchase source
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Missiles & air defense
Missile forces could not be observed in this assessment — missing data caps the score, it is never treated as zero.
Recent acquisitions & orders (dated, sourced)
- Stepped-up Iranian training and logistical support: advanced missiles, drones, uncrewed attack boats — None (delivered)
AP via Bastille Post, ~2026-09-23: 'Yemen's Houthi rebels shook up the Mideast with a sudden blitz. Iran helped, sources tell AP'; Iranian advisers present at all levels of Houthi offensive; Iran denies arming Houthis source - 750-tonne weapons shipment: hundreds of advanced cruise, antiship and anti-aircraft missiles bound for the Houthis — hundreds of missiles (seized)
Al Jazeera, 2026-09-29: seized June 2025 by National Resistance Forces (per US CENTCOM) — evidence of supply chain, not a Houthi purchase source - Widespread arms smuggling (drone control devices, engines, missile components) despite UN embargo; Houthis developing missile/drone tech via technical assistance and domestic manufacturing — None (rumored)
Reuters, 2026-09-17: 'How Yemen's Houthis went from a small mountain militia to a big regional threat' — cites 2025 UN panel of experts report and IISS 2025 assessment (Houthis dependent on Iran for key technologies) source
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Nuclear
Status: non-nuclear-weapon state (NPT party)
Force structure — record
Yemeni Armed Forces: Yemeni National Army, Air Force and Air Defense, Navy and Coastal Defense Forces, Border Guard, Strategic Reserve Forces (includes Special Forces and Presidential Protection Brigades, which are under the Ministry of Defense but responsible to the president), Popular Committee Forces (aka Popular Resistance Forces; government-backed tribal militia) Ministry of Interior: Security Forces, Emergency Forces, Counterterrorism Units (2025)
the Yemeni Government forces have an inventory consisting primarily of older foreign-supplied weapons systems, mostly of Russian or Soviet origin (2025)
limited available information; 18 is the legal minimum age for military service under the Yemeni Government (2025)
government forces under the Yemeni Ministry of Defense are responsible for both external and internal defense; their priorities are the Houthi separatists (aka Ansarallah), the terrorist groups al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in Yemen (ISIS-Yemen), and maritime security, particularly against arms smuggling; in 2022, the Yemeni Government and the Houthis signed a truce, halting most fighting and establishing humanitarian measures; the former front lines of conflict, in some areas mirroring Yemen’s pre-unification borders, remain static; AQAP and ISIS-Yemen continue to be active in remote areas (2025)
MILITARY POWER 29.67/100 — The Magna Military Power score is our 0–100 measure of causal military capability — 24 dimensions (mass, equipment, readiness, projection, industry, nuclear deterrence), aggregated through a dependency graph, never by simple addition.
Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
Steadiness was the quarter's defining trait: no rupture, no windfall, no surprise strong enough to move the score.
The trajectory remains set by fundamentals that change over years, not quarters — and this quarter changed little.
What is Yemen's military power score?
Yemen's military power score is 29.67/100, measuring causal military capability across 24 dimensions.
Where does Yemen rank in military power?
Yemen ranks #149 of 195 countries in military power in Magna Bureau military rankings.