UK deploys Voyager tankers to aid Saudi air defence

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has agreed to give military support to Saudi Arabia to help it tackle attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, media reports said Monday, as the rebels' offensive along Yemen's Red Sea coast escalates.

British planes will provide "defensive" air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets, Burnham told reporters as he travelled to the UN General Assembly in New York. According to the PA news agency, the UK mission will be confined to supporting Saudi aircraft defending the kingdom against drone and missile attacks, rather than backing strikes against the Houthis themselves. 

The use of the Voyager tanker aircraft is expected to begin within days, with officials describing the mission as time-limited and likely to last "weeks." It comes on top of the UK Sky Sabre air defence system already deployed in Saudi Arabia.

Explaining the decision, Burnham said he was "acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region because, of course, Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attacks, is looking at potential further disruption, and we need to keep those pathways open, and hence our agreement to the request."

A rapidly deteriorating security picture

The British move follows a major escalation over the weekend: a Houthi attack on Riyadh on Saturday was the first to target the Saudi capital in years. 

This month, the Houthis, who already controlled most of Yemen's populated areas, launched a lightning offensive to seize the country's entire Red Sea coast, giving them control over the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab strait.

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government since 2015. Britain's offer of support marks a further step in Western involvement in the conflict, at a moment when the wider region remains gripped by the fallout from the ongoing confrontation between the United States, Israel and Iran.