Fatir-1, illustrative image, source: the Houthis media wing
The Houthis announced on March 19 that the Yemeni Air Defense Force had targeted an aerial formation of the Saudi-led coalition over central Yemen.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Yemeni group, said the formation, that consisted of several warplanes, was targeted over the district of Sirwah in the province of Ma’rib with a “Fatir-1” air-defense system.
“The air defense [force] confronted a combat formation consisting of a number of hostile warplanes in the skies of the district of Sarwah in Marib with the Fatir-1 air-defense system and forced them to leave before they could conduct any aggression,” the spokesman said.
The Fatir-1 is a locally-upgraded Soviet-made SA-6 “Gainful” system that was revealed by the Houthis in August of 2019. The system has an effective range of 22 km.
A few days ago, the Houthis targeted three warplanes- an F-15 and two F-16s – of the Saudi-led coalition over northern Yemen with the Fatir-1 system.
The Houthis are failing to shoot down the targeted warplanes in most cases. However, their air-defense fire has limited he Saudi-led coalition aerial operations over key areas in northern and central Yemen.
