Soviet Weapons Or Iranian Arms? What’s The Houthi Secret Of Downing Advanced US MQ-9 Reaper Drones? - YouTube
The Iran-backed Houthis have shot down at least three US Reaper drones with limited weapons systems and a number of restrictions. The Houthis last week claimed to have downed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone with a surface-to-air missile in a desert region of Yemen's central Marib province. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, however, claimed “this drone is the sixth of its kind to be downed”. Yemen received a large number of weapons, including sophisticated ballistic missiles, coastal defence, anti-tank and anti-air missile tech from the Soviet Union. However, experts say that after 30 years, the inherited Soviet systems would not have been enough for the Houthis to target sophisticated Western aircraft.
#israel #hamas #gaza #usa #palestine #houthi #yemen #iran #lebanon #hezbollah
Yemeni Forces Shoot Down American Drone
In a significant military achievement, the Yemeni air defense forces, with the help of God Almighty, successfully shot down an American MQ9 aircraft while it was conducting hostile missions in the airspace of Ma'rib Governorate. The targeting operation was completed using a home-made surface-to-air missile. The event is significant not only in terms of Yemen's military capability but also as a demonstration of the country's ability to defend itself against foreign interference.
Summary
The #Houthi rebels in #Yemen have shot down at least six U.S. MQ-9 #Reaper #drones since October 2023, with the most recent incident occurring in May 2024. The rebels claim to have used surface-to-air missiles, possibly of Iranian or Soviet origin, to target these sophisticated drones.
The repeated losses of the Reapers, which cost around $30 million each, are a significant financial and strategic setback for the U.S. military. The drones, capable of flying at high altitudes for extended periods, have been used to safeguard shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden amid escalating Houthi attacks on maritime assets.
Concerns have been raised about the potential for #Iran, which backs the Houthis, to gain access to the downed #UAVs and exploit sensitive U.S. drone technology. This could lead to advances in Iranian UAV designs and anti-drone tactics, posing a substantial threat to U.S. and allied forces in the region.
The downing of the Reapers is part of a broader Houthi strategy that includes attacks on shipping routes, purportedly in solidarity with Palestinians. The U.S. military has responded with airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, but the frequency and sophistication of the rebels' drone and missile attacks persist, highlighting the growing challenge they pose to U.S. surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in the region.
Fourth U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Lost to Houthi Anti-Aircraft Missile In 6 Months
This is the fourth U.S. Reaper drone being shot down by the Houthi rebels since October 2023.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Friday claimed to have shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone, circulating footage of the downed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), that served to identify the aircraft. They also released a video of the projectile in action used to bring down the Reaper.
This is the second shoot down of the Reaper by the Yemen-based group, in the previous two months, the last such hit taking place on April 26, 2024. Overall, this also makes it the fourth US drone being shot down since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, with the first brought down in November of that year, followed by another in February.
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The April 26 downing of the Reaper was confirmed by US Air Force’s Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a DoD (Department of Defense) spokesperson, who said an investigation was underway.
That shootdown saw the Houthis releasing electro-optical footage of the Reaper being captured in its AD (Air Defense) system’s cross hairs, and a missile leaving the launcher in dark conditions. It soon travels a distance and explodes in a fireball, suggesting it has hit its target.
The Houthi movement has published video of them shooting down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone with a surface-to-air missile, showing them using aerial reconnaissance drones of their own to track the American military hardware before taking it out of the sky. pic.twitter.com/rc3lKvlxFo
— Séamus Malekafzali (@Seamus_Malek) April 27, 2024
The interception seems to be happening at within-visual ranges. A subsequent thermal footage capturing the drone from the front also shows the missile hitting it from the side. The group then displays the crashed debris that includes the push-propeller section, the electronic and integrated circuitry and other components.
Jemeńscy 🇾🇪 #Houthi przypominają, że dają radę z 🇺🇸. Znów zestrzelili cenny dron MQ-9 #Reaper. pic.twitter.com/Ph8uMtDUyr
— Krystian Jachacy 🇵🇱 (@KrystianJachacy) May 17, 2024
Latest Downing
Associated Press (AP) quoted Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree claiming they used a “surface-to-air missile” to bring down the drone as it was “carrying out hostile actions” in Yemen’s Marib Province. The region is held by the Houthis, which is opposed to the internationally recognized government.
The Houthis later released footage they claimed showed the surface-to-air-missile being launched at night, along with footage in thermal vision mode of the drone being captured in its EO/IR cameras. A man, whose voice had been digitally altered, possibly to prevent identification, chanted the Houthi slogan: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
Several accounts on X later posted phone camera footage of Houthi fighters and locals surrounding the wreckage of the Reaper. Some analysts claimed that the Houthis used the Iranian Product 358 anti-drone UAV – or loitering SAM it as some observers have classified it – to bring down the Reaper. This aspect is however not yet clear.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million a unit, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The MQ-9 Reaper’s defining features are its sophisticated multi-mode electro-optical sighting system, and communications technology.
It can coordinate with ground and air assets, watching surface movements from a safe altitude and distance. The Raytheon Technologies’ (now RTX) electro-optical Multispectral Targeting System-B (MTS-B) turret that provides real-time intelligence, targeting, and tracking.
Non-State Actor with a Professional Military?
The Houthis’ are significantly technologically superior compared to the last few adversaries the US fought, like Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Possessing an array of older, legacy air defense (AD) missiles, cheap yet effective Iranian drones that are usually shipped in disassembled forms, and some relatively advanced series of missiles and UAVs, the Houthis survived the combined military might of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the eight-year-long civil war.
The group reportedly shot down Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), Yemeni, Emirati, Sudanese, Bahraini, Jordanian and Moroccan jets including AH-64 Apaches, Su-22s, MiG-29s, F-16s and several American MQ-9 Reaper drones. What missile the Houthis used to bring down the latest Reapers is not known. But Western analysts have drawn some studied inferences.
Besides Iran being the “key source for Houthi anti-ship missile technology,” it has a “few obsolescent Soviet-era systems and slightly less antiquated Chinese designs,” according to a January 4 report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).
The report names the S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile, acquired from pre-war Yemeni army stocks, that it has converted for anti-ship roles using an Iranian conversion kit. Assuming the missile can still engage aerial targets even after the conversion, it can significantly threaten slow-moving, vulnerable drones.
Thus whether it is the S-75 Dvina or the Iranian Product 358, it is now likely that the US would possibly reevaluate tactics and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) of flying the Reapers over/near Yemen, as the airspace is certainly becoming contested for ISR drones.
Parth Satam's career spans a decade and a half between two dailies and two defense publications. He believes war, as a human activity, has causes and results that go far beyond which missile and jet flies the fastest. He therefore loves analyzing military affairs at their intersection with foreign policy, economics, technology, society and history. The body of his work spans the entire breadth from defense aerospace, tactics, military doctrine and theory, personnel issues, West Asian, Eurasian affairs, the energy sector and Space.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim downing US Reaper drone, release footage showing wreckage of aircraft
Updated 9:35 PM PDT, April 27, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.
The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.
The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country’s Saada province.
Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi’s slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.
Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday’s shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.
The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.
Photographic evidence released by the Houthi rebels suggests that the UAV was struck by a surface-to-air missile, resulting in a hard landing in the desert terrain. The images, reviewed by external sources, depict the MQ-9 on its belly with its tail assembly disconnected and at least one hatch opened post-landing. Remarkably, the drone appears mostly intact, lacking significant blast damage. This raises concerns regarding the potential for sophisticated enemy forces to examine and exploit sensitive technologies.
The U.S. defense community has remained tight-lipped regarding these losses, with a U.S. defense official, under the condition of anonymity, stating that “the U.S. Air Force has not lost any aircraft operating within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.” The statement shrouds the incidents in ambiguity, as it neither confirms nor denies the downing of the UAVs.
Yemen’s complex war theater has become a hotspot for such incidents, where the Houthi rebels have exhibited an increased capability to engage high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs like the Reaper. Valued at approximately $30 million each, the Reapers can fly at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet with a 24-hour endurance, making their repeated losses not only a financial burden but also a strategic setback.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has actively employed these UAVs to safeguard shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, especially considering the Houthi’s escalated offensives on maritime assets. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized, and even sunk vessels as part of their campaign. These actions, purportedly in solidarity with Palestinians, have significantly impacted commercial navigation in the area.
Iran’s potential involvement is a source of heightened concern as the Houthis, known to be Iran-backed, may transfer these almost intact downed UAVs to Tehran. Should this occur, Iran could gain invaluable insights into U.S. drone technology, such as remote piloting systems, surveillance capabilities, and payload systems. This knowledge could precipitate advances in Iranian UAV designs and anti-drone tactics, posing a substantial threat to U.S. and allied forces in the region.
The downing of the Reapers comes in the backdrop of a broader Houthi strategy that includes attacks on shipping routes. The U.S. military has retaliated with airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, yet the frequency and sophistication of drone and missile attacks by the rebels persist.
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