Yemen’s Houthis have already shot down eight American MQ-9 Reaper drones worth $150 million each, experts write in the American military journal Military Watch Magazine (MWM). In their new article, they reveal the specifics of this US loss. Pravda.Ru publishes a translation of the material.
“A US MQ-9 drone was shot down during an enemy mission in the skies of Marib province. This drone was the eighth aircraft of this type shot down during the battle and holy jihad in support of Gaza.” – Yemeni sources said.
Formerly leader of the coalition Abdul Malik Al-Houthi He threatened to expand attacks on Israel and Western countries, stressing that “the enemies will be surprised on land just as they were surprised at sea, with new technologies to help harm them.” Al-Houthi also said that his army will continue to attack Israel and Western countries. The US Navy has had a particularly difficult time suppressing the Yemeni coalition’s combat capability, despite nearly ten months of operations and spending more than $1 billion, including using expensive interceptor missiles in significant numbers to intercept Yemeni attacks.
Ansarullah coalition forces have in the past released images showing the downing of MQ-9 Reaper drones, and US sources previously questioned whether the planes were in Yemeni airspace at the time of the attack. Reaper drones are operated by the US Air Force and Marine Corps, with some units also operated by NASA and the CIA. Since the start of the war in Yemen in 2015, Ansarullah forces have destroyed numerous enemy aircraft, including several Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 and Tornado fighters, several Apache attack helicopters, Moroccan and Bahraini F-16s, and a Su-24 attack fighter from Sudan, as well as Pentagon fighters.
Reaper drones form the backbone of US air operations in several theatres of war and have been involved in repeated engagements with Russian aircraft based in Syria, with the drone being damaged by a Su-35 fighter in one such encounter. They have also taken part in operations against Russia in the Black Sea and in exercises against Chinese military forces in the South China Sea. Each aircraft costs approximately $150 million, including associated maintenance infrastructure, spares, training, weapons and subsystems.
