The Qasef-1 UAV, February 2017 (Photo: Conflict Armament Research)
On February 23, an unnamed Yemeni officer told the Yemeni al-Masirah TV that the Yemeni Air Force and the Missile Forces [both allied with the Houthis] had conducted a joint operation and destroyed a MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 air defense system and a headquarter of the UAE Army in the central Yemeni province of Ma’rib.
According to al-Masirah, Yemeni forces attacked the UAE Army Patriot PAC-3 system with “a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs],” while the UAE Army headquarter was targeted with several ballistic missiles launched by the Yemeni Missile Forces.
The Saudi-led coalition immediately announced that its air defenses in Yemen had intercepted two ballistic missiles, which had been launched by the Houthis over the center of Ma’rib province. However, the collation didn’t report shooting down any UAVs of the Houthis.
Most likely, the Yemenis used a type of suicide UAVs named “Qasef-1” to conduct such attacks. The Qasef-1 is a copy of the Iranian-made “Ababil-2” UAV armed with 30kg warhead, according to a report of the Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group.
The Houthis conducted a similar attack with UAVs and ballistic missiles against a Patriot PAC-3 system of the Saudi Army in the southwestern province of Taiz on February 8. However, the real results of these attacks are yet to be known.
Nice! Caught the Orcs with their pantaloons down!
Aye Capn.
Furl the mizzenmast and arm photon torpedoes!
So these $500 drones are going to take $100,000 missiles to shoot them down. . .
If they use Patriots, it is more like $3M+ per missile.
I think the drones are more like $1,500-$2,000. But you are right, cheap drone vs expensive anti-air system.
The worst example of cost mismatch I know of is the Chinese DF21, which is reported to cost $100,000, the US counter weapon, the Standard 3 Block 1B missile costs $10 million a piece.
the technological clock now swing toward the little guys , where once you have to be a big rich nations to field such firepower , now a mere light infantry force can devastate much much bigged opponent with hand carry weapons..
High Tech hand carried weapons Manpad can take out a multi-million dollar fighter aircraft.
Spoof GPS signals, and you can send a Tomahawk missile right back to the ship that fired it. Now that’s a real return to sender.
Riiight first you have to break the encryption dumbass.
and this will also be the weapon that destroy US helicopters if they tried to assault north korea.. the mountaineous terrain of north korea , their infantry all equipped with abundance of ATGM and MANPADS.. and the usual US helicopter operations to support their advance..
when US lost air superiority , what can their coward ground force do ? call for backup ? no such thing in the mountains of north korea..
LOL Are you kidding? The US wouldn’t lose air superiority, now you’re being unrealistic. Don’t forget the US has a host of satellite based weapons that we haven’t even seen yet. The DPRK would be over matched and they know it, hence their nuclear program.
typical response from a fool and an ignorant who watched too much TeeeVeee
satellite based weapons ? what are you reading ? buck rogers ?
Typical response from a jerkoff.
go pick your shekels from your masters in tel aviv , mr hasbara
LOL Man you’re a dumb-ass!
Overwatch D.VA, your obviously mistaken. “Abundance of ATGM and MANPADS”, really are they hiding those along with their top of the line T-34/85 Tank Battalions? You honestly believe that the two things the US Military count on won’t be available? We rule both the air and the night. Period! But I have to admit, you’ve earned your troll payment from whoever is paying you to be an idiot.
talk like a fool , think like a fool , that’s what you are …
you are typical ignorant mook whose military knowledge garnered from discovery channel and playing call of duty..
go home and try to finish your school , you are a disgrace to your foster parents
Ever hear of ATACMS? Not to mention GBU-39?
Then again I suspect the biggest threat to North Korean (starving) armed forces is the cheeseburger. Just drop a bunch of quarter-pounders on target, then round them up while they pig out.
Do you have any idea how close you have to be for a Manpad to be effective? Simple solution that’s already been in use for years: keep the manned aircraft above a minimum altitude and strangers away from landing fields.
Look at the historical record. How many jets were shot down over Iraq or Afghanistan the past 15 years? Not a massive threat.
In Afghanistan there isn’t any man-pad threat full stop, so silly comparison. If there was you wouldn’t see Warthogs or AC130 gunships operating so freely in that theatre. Now if ISIS gets a foothold there, watch out – they have man-pads, thanks to the US arming other jihadists.
Name three specific instances of these “devastating” weapons. COTS drones cost over $1,000 and can carry 1 or 2 grenades.
Well done Houthis. Keep continue. Those that support Hadi gang are indeed great losers.
Those regimes that support Israel and have invaded Syria and Yemen for regime change and have occupied their lands by force will be great losers.
I like it! These Houthi people are thinking on their feet.
Old cultures can teach us western cultures quite a bit.
Use all means to destroy USA/NATO bankruptcy agenda.
Drones can be defeated with something as cheap and simple as a baseball backstop. They’re pretty soft targets. Automated short range projectile weapons firing flak rounds can stop them too at more cost than a simple net. We just haven’t had any need to deploy such defensive weapons yet.
Solution is a phalanx CIWS mounted beside the patriot
Tech innovation cycle meets weapon innovation cycle won’t be pretty, with a race toward lowest cost effective tools.
While I understand the political value of this type of “test attack”, within days its likely not to work again as counter measures are deployed.