Illustrative image.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) have released video footage showing the successful interception of an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone of the United States military over the central Yemen province of Ma’rib on May 16.
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.
The footage released by the Houthis show the launch of an anti-aircraft missile at the drone, then the moment it was hit and fell to the ground.
The Houthis apparently used a Barq-1 or 2 missile to shoot down the drone. Both missiles are thought to be derivative of the Iranian-made Taer-2, which is guided by semi-active radar, with a range of 50 and 70 kilometers respectively.
The drone was the fourth of its kind to be shot down by the Houthis over Yemen since the group began a confrontation with Israel, the U.S. and the United Kingdom over the Israeli war and siege on the Palestinian Gaza Strip last November. The first three were shot down on November 14, February 19 and April 25.
In addition to targeting American drones, the Houthis have been targeting ships linked to Israel, the U.S. and the UK in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean as well as launching missiles and drones at the southernmost Israeli port city of Eilat.
Early on May 18, the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that a ship came under attack in the Red Sea off the coast of the western Yemeni port city of al-Hodeida, which is held by the Houthis.
The captain “has confirmed sustaining slight damage after being struck by an unknown object on his port quarter,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel and crew are safe and continuing to its next port of call.”
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the attack reported by UKMTO, though it typically takes them hours to issue a claim.
The U.S. and the UK have carried out hundreds of strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen since January. Nevertheless, the military campaign has so far failed to deter the group or degrade its capabilities.
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oh yeah, pin-drop silence from “iranian missiles don’t work” copiods. explains why the naze israhellis stopped threats against iran after they got a tight slap from tehran.
the flir systems are canadian as far as i know.
wel maybe my bad a quick research on google revealed the following:
engineers at the mrdc found a solution by coupling one of three u.s.-made flir systems ultra 8500 turrets – delivered to yemen back in 2008 – with makeshift controls for their “new” sams. one such sam enabled them to fire the r-27t that narrowly missed a saudi f-15 over sana’a on jan. 7, 2018.
the stay silent because iran and israel are partners in crime , people still have not figure it out {••}
sukkking america’s teet is the jewish way
brave houtis!
too bad they don’t target their planes. neither houthi’s or hezbollah target anything but drones. why? they appear to have the same systems, do they not think they can bring them down? it would certainly put an end to israel’s many overflights and attacks…or at least make them think twice about risking planes and pilots.syria does not try to bring down israeli planes, because they fire from outside syria?
its because “israel” uses standoff ammo, such as long range missiles that can be fired from outside the range of the air defenses in service with hezbollah or syria (longest range available to hezbollah has a range of 80 kilometers at most i believe) so only the missile can be shot down
just amazing, one of the worlds poorest countries with a ragtag militia is able to take down four of mighty uncle sam’s drones! and the us wants to go to war with china? wtf!?
the russians should lesrn from the yemenis how to take down american drones. the yermenis have balls of steel. the russian are scaredy cats
next a nato ship.
would love that.
how do the yeminis spot the drone? where is the radar tech/intel from?
good news sandal boyss.its only you and iran who take down 30 milion usa drones in the entire world without fear
listening to the audio reminds me what propaganda it’s about. and every fighting side has their head well established over their shoulders, and thats ok. so the “sword” one more time have to be used because powers doesn’t understand to stay in their own zone of control. western world should understand to not to try to enslave everybody else. i get how the masters had taken overall control over usa and usa gov. allowed to be taken just to advance their empire. so many sins in the west.
if the west take over iran or they succeed in the post arab spring age and enslave the muslims and converted in the new children’s of muslims of the west, historically the “masters of the universe” get what they want, they did it with germany, japan last century, now they wanted to do it with iran, and russia, if they succeed they will infiltrate china and control from the inside and then, we are all going to be enslaved by the supreme hegemons at the top.