Illustrative image.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) has claimed responsibility for the May 29 downing of an American-made MQ-9 combat drone over the central Yemeni province of Ma’rib.
Brigade General Yahya Sarea, the group’s military spokesman, said in the statement that “a locally made surface-to-air missile was used in the operation, and this was the sixth MQ-9 Reaper drone we shot down in six months.”
He added that “we will continue to develop our military defense capabilities to counter the American-British coalition aggression against our country.”
“We will also continue to support the Palestine people against the Israeli aggression until the conflict and blockade [on the Gaza Strip] stop,” the spokesman stressed.
Video footage released later by the Houthis showed the MQ-9 being hit by a missile. The group apparently used one of its medium-range anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down the drone. These missiles are the Fater-1, a copy of the Soviet-made 3M9 used in the Kub system with a range a little bit over 22 kilometers, the Barq-1 and 2, both are thought to be derivative of the Iranian-made Taer-2 with a range of 50 and 70 kilometers respectively.
Despite the presence of footage showing the wreckage of the downed drone in Ma’rib, a United States defense official told The Associated Press that “the U.S. Air Force has not lost any aircraft operating within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.”
MQ-9 combat drones, which cost upwards of $30 million per a unit, are primarily used to collect intelligence, but have the ability to conduct pinpoint strikes. The advanced drones can operate for more than 27 hours and reach altitudes of over 25,000 feet.
This was indeed the fourth drone of this type to be shot down by the Houthis over Yemen and nearby waters since the group began to launch attacks in response to the Israeli war on Gaza last November. The first five were shot down on November 14, February 19, April 25, May 16 and 21.
So far, the U.S. military has denied ownership of two of the downed drones. These two might have been operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA.
In addition to shooting down these drones, the Houthis have targeted dozens of Israel-affiliated ships and others owned by the U.S. and the United Kingdom in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. The group also launched several drone and missile attacks at the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat.
The U.S. and the UK have carried out hundreds of strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen since last January in an attempt to deter the group and degrade their capabilities. However, the group’s recent operations suggest that none of these objectives have been achieved so far.
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keep going, please …
they should rename it to “mq-9 weeper” lol
the usa congress has become a black mass for globalism the remains of the reaper should be exorcised before disposal.
deliver it to iran, they will find a cure for this zio-yankee desease.
no worries, they already seized, reverse-engineered and produced their copy of the american drone years ago :)
nice shootn! 👍
that’s right, show them zionistic swines, they asked for this.