According to the U.S. Air Force, two U.S. F-16 “Wild Weasel” pilots survived a Houthi surface-to-air missile ambush over Yemen in March 2025, escaping six missiles in about 15 minutes and earning Silver Stars.
Their aircraft were equipped with HARM Targeting System (HTS) pods and fired AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles before exiting the area. After the strike, the Houthis executed a “SAMbush,” waiting until U.S. aircraft were egressing before activating radars and launching. “We only had about 15–20 seconds of indications ahead of time.”
Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks turned directly into an incoming missile — a last-ditch defensive tactic — and it passed beneath his wing. “Close enough, I can hear the rumble.” Maj. Michael “Danger” Blea watched another missile close in. “This is my only chance. I have one chance to make this miss.” It missed by an estimated few dozen feet.
Pulling high-G defensive maneuvers and burning fuel rapidly, both jets risked flameout over hostile territory. A tanker crew moved closer to the threat area and refuelled them during the crisis. Both jets made it back safely after what they described as seconds separating them from death.
About 15 seconds separated F-16 “Wild Weasel” pilots Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks and Maj. Michael “Danger” Blea from life or death in the night skies over Yemen.
Along with multiple B-2 Spirit bombers and other aircraft, they were part of a complex mission to strike Houthi ballistic missile production facilities in Yemen on March 27, 2025. The B-2s dropped their bombs, the F-16s peeled away from their targets, hoping to soon be “feet wet” over the Red Sea.
The Air Force granted Air & Space Forces Magazine interviews with Parks and Blea to discuss their harrowing mission, for which each earned a Silver Star—just two of fewer than 100 of the valor medals awarded to Airmen since the independent U.S. Air Force was founded in 1947. The Silver Star is the U.S. military’s third-ranking valor award, after the Medal of Honor and service Crosses.
Neither the two pilots nor spokespeople for the Air Force would specify the enemy or country involved, but interviews with multiple current and former U.S. officials confirmed that the actions occurred over Yemen and the Red Sea. The squadron’s actions against the Houthis are also referenced in at least one other award citation.
This account of the mission and Operation Rough Rider, the 52-day air campaign against the Houthis, is based on interviews with current and former U.S. officials with knowledge of the air campaign.
Operation Rough Rider, the overall campaign targeting the Houthis, launched on March 15, 2025. The aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman was based off the Yemeni coast, its deck brimming with F/A-18 Super Hornets, multirole fighters, and EA-18 Growlers, electronic attack jets. Remotely operated MQ-9 Reaper drones joined the operation.
By March 25, half a dozen B-2s were arriving on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, according to open-source data. Though the Air Force declined to comment on the B-2s’ role, people familiar with the operation say they participated in the March 27 attack.
Houthi Missiles
The Yemeni militants claim the Barq-1 and Barq-2 have maximum ranges of around 50 kilometres and close to 70 kilometres, respectively, and can engage targets at altitudes up to some 15 kilometres and 20 kilometres, respectively.
Experts and observers have generally assessed that the Barq-1 and Barq-2 are at least based on Iran’s Taer family of medium-range radar-guided surface-to-air missiles. The Taer series missiles are themselves at least heavily influenced by Soviet-era and subsequent Russian-made interceptors for the 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) and the 9K37 Buk (SA-11 Gadfly) air defense systems, if not direct copies or clones of them.
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