Houthi Ballistic Missile Intercepted Near Belgian Minehunter in Bab el-Mandeb

A ballistic missile was intercepted in the vicinity of the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunter BNS Primula while it was transiting the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, according to a report carried by Naval News. The Belgian newspaper De Morgen, in a report published on 26 October 2026, said an undisclosed French Navy warship shot down the missile.

The incident reportedly took place in mid-October and caused no casualties or damage. The Belgian minehunter was not the intended target but happened to be in the vicinity of the interception, according to the report. The missile was most likely launched by Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly targeted commercial and military shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in recent years.

BNS Primula has been operating in the Middle East for several weeks after being recalled from the Baltic Sea. The Belgian government dispatched the minehunter in anticipation of a planned multinational demining operation in the Strait of Hormuz, to be carried out alongside allied nations. The absence of a ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz means the minehunter has not yet received political clearance to begin that operation, leaving it in the wider theatre pending changing operational parameters.

At the time of the attack, the minehunter was passing through the Bab el-Mandeb area, though no details about its course or destination were made public. It was escorted by a French warship whose identity was not disclosed. Since the minehunter has limited self-defence capability, the escorting French vessel intercepted the incoming ballistic missile.

France is reportedly investigating the details of the attack. Current assessments suggest BNS Primula was not directly targeted, which could mean the missile was intended for another vessel or fired as a warning shot. Successfully striking a moving ship with a ballistic missile is technically demanding, requiring specialised munitions and advanced targeting data that Houthi forces are largely believed to lack; their ballistic missile capability has so far been developed primarily against static targets.

The incident follows a similar episode roughly three weeks earlier. On 1 October 2026, the French Aquitaine-class frigate FS Languedoc intercepted a drone in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb that was heading toward the LNG-powered, 23,000-TEU container ship Champs-Élysées, operated by CMA CGM and travelling from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.

Taken together, the two episodes indicate that the security environment in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait remains tense, with NATO member states’ warships playing an active role in protecting both military and commercial maritime traffic through the corridor. Given the scale of Turkish seaborne trade routed through the Red Sea and Suez corridor, security developments in the area are also being closely watched for their implications on Turkish trade routes.

The background to Belgium’s deployment of the minehunter lies in a planned multinational mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, expected to begin once a ceasefire takes hold there. The timing of that operation remains contingent on the region’s political and military trajectory, leaving BNS Primula to maintain readiness while exposed to a shifting threat environment in the interim.

Sources

• Naval News, “Houthi Ballistic Missile Intercepted Near Belgian Minehunter in Bab el-Mandeb”, navalnews.com, 27 October 2026 — used for incident details and the De Morgen report.