Illustrative image.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) have released video footage showing the moment an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone of the United States military was shot down by their air defenses on April 18.
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.
Houthi spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said earlier in a statement that the drone was downed with a “locally-made surface-to-air missile” while it was conducting hostile acts over the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
“This was the fifth [drone] in three weeks, and the twentieth during the battle of the promised conquest and the holy jihad in support of Gaza,” the spokesman noted.
In the same statement, the group announced another missile attack on a “military target” in central Israel and said that it had launched missiles and drones at the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and USS Carl Vinso in the Red and Arab seas.
Citing defense sources, Fox News confirmed that another MQ-9 was shot down by the Houthis over Yemen. It is still unclear, however, if any of the other attacks announced by the group were successful.
The Houthis operate several types of medium-range anti-aircraft missiles. 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.
The group also used in the past a missile-drone hybrid identified by the U.S. military and intelligence as type 358. The weapon is said to have a range of 150 kilometers.
The Houthis’ latest attacks began right after a series of U.S. strikes targeted the oil port of Ras Isa in the western province of al-Hodeidah late on April 17, killing 38 people and wounding over a 100 others.
The U.S. military resumed strikes against the Houthis on March 15 on orders from President Donald Trump, who said at the time that the large-scale operation was launched in response to the group’s renewed attacks on Israel-affiliated shipping in the Red Sea. Over 160 people have been killed in Yemen since then.
Despite taking some losses, the Houthis are still determined to go on with its military campaign against Israel and the U.S. in support of the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The latest wave of attacks shows that the group’s military capabilities remain largely intact.
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make my day. sink a carrier. id download to watch one sink over and over
even better sink 2
even better smoke tel aviv.
i can advance transjender
taking care of jewish people, that’s pretty much all our government cares about here in america. and we vote them in time after time.
great country. great political system. just a grand situation.
poor ussan tax cattle get milked and bilked by the chosenite demon$. tough!
it’s called zog.
lot of people ignore that the biggest jewish city in the world is new york, not tel aviv.
i look forward to seeing multiple ussan rust tubs making new homes for the little fishes in the red sea. god how i love the houthis and hezbollah and of course the gallant heroes hamas. onward to the total destruction of the khazar abomination in occupied palestine.
to sa poser, ha, ha, ha … a zase raz bojovníci v šľapkách, dávajú bastardom z usa na búdku. užasne to sledovať. ak by mali podporu ruska a číny, tak by isto dokázali aj potopiť niektorú z lietadlových lodí usa. to by ešte len potom bol dôvod na oslavu. mysleniu zdar a svetu mier!!!
nice shootin! bravo to the houthis!! keep humiliating uncle sam, the world is laughing at his ineptitude. 😬
houthi, the braves of the brave and a shining example for the whole axis of resistance
hezbollah, hamas and houthi need coordinating a simultan full scale missile and drone attac on zioland, to overload theyr air defences, than serious damages could be done to idf bases, airfields, rafineries, oil depots aso. to force zios to peace.