A fully armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle taxis down the runway at an air base in Afghanistan on its way to another wartime mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson).
The United States military acknowledged on September 18 that the Houthis (Ansar Allah) managed to shoot down two MQ-9 Reaper combat drones over Yemen in under a week.
The Houthis shot down the first drone over Yemen on September 10, and the second on September 16, according to the military.
U.S. Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said that authorities continue to investigate the last downing. He added that a claim by the Houthis that they had shot down ten MQ-9 since the start of their campaign in November over the Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave on the Gaza Strip was “not accurate.”
“For operational security reasons, I’m not going to be able to provide a specific number,” Ryder said.
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 Houthis announced shooting down three American-made MQ-9s in Yemen within ten days: one over the central province of Ma’rib on September 7; one over the northern province of Sadaa on September 10 and one over the central province of Dhamar on September 16.
The latest acknowledgement by the U.S. military does not mean that no drone was shot down on September 7. The MQ-9 is known to be also in service with many allies of Washington, including the United Kingdom whose military has been launching strikes against Yemen along with U.S. forces since last January.
The U.S. and the UK have launched hundreds of strikes against Yemen so far. Israel also carried out an unprecedented attack against the country last July. However, the Houthis continue to target ships linked to the three countries and their strikes against Israeli territories are becoming more effective. The group said repeatedly that its campaign won’t stop until the war on Gaza is over.
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men in sandals with no air force…have shot down over $300 million in american surveillance drones the past few months. clearly the west is not in it to win wars. they just want to profit from constant conflicts. what a way to win your income. total scum parasites. let the colonialist westerners understand that there will always be resistance, we are not going to give up ever to rainbow flag pedophiles and zionist child killing beasts
military overspending and corruption was one of the main reasons why the roman empire fell.
they would have made almost none of their ‘great works’ if it weren’t for slaves.
uncle sam cant even deal with a bunch of third world militia yet it wants to go to war on china. stuck on stupid!
even yemen has got to be wondering why they’re so easy to shoot down! makes me think they want them shot down. usa didnt get powerful by being stupid.
powerfull. they where chased almost off the korean peninsula, why china retreated back to the parallel is beyond me should have booted them right out. mac auther retired from embarassment. they couldn’t beat a few jungle bunnies, or sandal wearing goat hearders. when where they powerfull. not counting in their own mind. having a nuke is all they have
the operators of these shot down reaper drones, must rage quit afterwards.
😂🤣😂
how did the usa acquire the same mental sickness as the uk. i smell a lot of rats in american politics.
same satanic corrupt groupthink since roman and every other empire as well … in fact, it is kind of amazing how america essentially legalized corruption through lobbying — and how corrupt the defense contractor lobby in america is particularly. the first thing that america can do to fix this is term limits for the entrenched career-politician senators and congressmen.
truth is often hidden in plain sight the name “united kingdom” tells us what we need to know about globalism and the now fake american democracy becoming part of the kingdom.
but sure as a clucking bell, there is many more drones where the downed ones came from. however, it won’t help much since the disunited states is wasting its resources on matters they can’t even see much less do anything about. the latest houthi supersonic missile can get to palestine in about 10 minutes and it won’t be deflected by the iron dome since the iron dome is constructed for far slower stuff, so again, the jews are about to be finished off and sent to kingdom come!
history repeating
their multi-million dollars pieces of overhyped, overpriced garbage gets destroyed when the heimy rats who control the jew-s-a fight against a people that fights back. now cry in your matzo ball soup you scumbags.
such a waste of our tax payers dollars. the treasonous, zionist-enslaved, israel-first (fight for bebe the war criminal chickenchit netanyahu’s political survival to the last us soldier) are shameless. their supprt for war crimes, genocide their illegal occupation of syria nd their blatant hypocrisy assures their defeat in ukraine, syria and the middle east.
add aiding terrorists. surely this pager explosion is an act of terrorism. so much for the war on terror, the us of a sinking to new lows
he might have gotten away with the lies, but the houthi’s have proof of dead drones…not bs.
yea what about the 9 downed earlier, the houthies been taking these drones out regularly i believe houthie reports over known liar uncle samuel.