AL ASAD, Iraq–ScanEagle UAV sits on the catapult prior to launch. 16 April 2005, By Gunnery Sergeant Shannon Arledge of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
On February 28, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) shot down yet another US-made Boeing Insitu ScanEagle 2 drone over Yemen.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the group, said that the drone was shot down with a “suitable weapon” after conducting “hostile acts” over the district of Harad in the northwestern province of Hajjah.
Saudi-led coalition proxies, led by the 5th Military District of the Yemeni Armed Forces, kicked off a large-scale attack on Houthi forces in Harad early on in February. However, they are yet to make any real gains in the district.
The ScanEagle 2 has a top speed of 148 kilometers and an endurance of more than 16 hours. The drone is mainly used for reconnaissance missions. It is equipped with a day and night capable sensor, a fully digital video system and an advanced navigation system.
This was the third ScanEagle 2 drone to be shot down by the Houthis’ air defenses over Yemen since the beginning of the year. The first and second drones were shot down over the district of al-Jubah in the central province of Ma’rib on January 30 and February 25.
Last year, the Houthis down at least eight ScanEagle 2 drones over different parts of Ma’rib while battling the Saudi-backed coalition and its proxies.
It remains unclear who is operating these ScanEagle 2 drones over Yemen. According to some reports, Saudi Arabia purchased a number of drones of this type from the US without announcing the contract. This is yet to be confirmed, however.
Duplicitous and shameless Russia voted in favour of extending the arms embargo on the entirety of the Houthi movement at the UN, hand in hand with the US and UK:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/un-security-council-extends-yemen-arms-embargo-to-all-houthis
“Russia, which is close to Iran, on Monday voted in favour of the UNSC resolution, which states that the Houthi rebels in their entirety will now be subject to an arms embargo first declared in 2015 on some of their leaders.
Diplomats, speaking to the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, said Russia’s position suggests a deal was cut between Moscow and Abu Dhabi for the latter to abstain in upcoming UN votes on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Not sure why you got the downticks = https://menafn.com/1103785664/UK-UN-Security-Council-extends-Yemen-arms-embargo-to-all-Houthi-rebels&source=30
The world is an effing stage.
Reason being this site is infested by Russian dick-riding wannabes, who can’t take criticism of their saviour lol… bunch of morons.
Yes they did and last year they did the equivalent by abstaining. I guess the UAE wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less. The results were purely political and really changes nothing. This is renewed every year. Likely the Houthis couldn’t buy much anyway, but however they are manufacturing these things, they’re getting pretty good at it. Who knows, maybe there is a backdoor deal between Russia/Iran to furnish parts to be modified or newer tech. If not, the moral stance is not justified when Russia itself was targeted and they complained how unfair it was…and they weren’t being bombed into oblivion and starving. Also to be considered is what Russia was able to do under said sanctions, so who knows?
Funny thing is in today’s UN vote both UAE and Saudi returned the favour by… wait for it… voting against Russia. What’s happening to Yemen is a genocide and for Russians to support it outright and complain about getting sanctioned is absurd.
Practice makes perfect. Someone in Yemen has been figuring out the best approach to knock them down, most effective timing, trajectory and surface to air ordnance.
The operators likely be US contractors, either seconded, or on private contracts working as intelligence officers for Saudi military. Remember Saudi officers are promoted by nepotism and family connection, not by ability to actually do anything their job title might suggest. So Saudi intelligence gathering and critical data analysis, in an actual war theater, likely heavily outsourced to foreign specialists.
Would an anti-tank weapon work – target and leave type ? (or whatever they are called).
Almost anything can shoot it down if it has the range. They are very slow.
Wouldn’t surprise me if it were some sort of EW.
Most likely they have them in bunches as cheep routine spy equipment now.
16 hours in the air if not shot down is good.
Each ScanEagle system reportedly costs US$3.2 million – you could not make this crap up.