Yemen Cell Used Anthropic AI to Develop Missile Guidance Software

A weapons-development cell in northern Yemen used Anthropic's Claude AI to develop guidance, navigation, and control software for three missile programs, according to a threat intelligence report published by the company on September 10, 2026. The group, which Anthropic assessed as likely linked to Iran-backed Houthi militants, ran multiple Claude instances simultaneously to perform tasks typically requiring a team of specialized engineers. The cell's projects included a guided rocket built around a phone-grade flight computer, a multistage ballistic missile with a stated range goal exceeding 2,000 kilometers, and the R2000 missile family, which included a hypersonic glide vehicle variant. Operators used Claude Code to write software for steering and stabilizing the weapons, integrate open-source autopilot systems, and conduct trajectory simulations. Anthropic reported that the group test-fired a guided rocket in Yemen, which apparently failed. Within hours, the operators returned to Claude to analyze the launch telemetry and troubleshoot the failure. The company found no evidence that the group successfully deployed an operational weapon developed with its AI.