NEW DELHI: Yemen‘s Houthi rebels claimed on Saturday that that they had shot down one other US army MQ-9 Reaper drone, releasing footage of components that matched identified elements of the unmanned plane. The Houthis said that they used a surface-to-air missile to deliver down the Reaper, as a part of a renewed collection of assaults this week by the rebels following a relative lull of their strain marketing campaign in the course of the Israel-Hamas conflict within the Gaza Strip.
“A US Air Drive MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen,” confirmed US Air Drive Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defence Division spokesperson, to The Related Press on Saturday. He added that an investigation was ongoing, with out offering additional particulars.
The Houthis reported that the downing occurred on Thursday over their stronghold within the nation’s Saada province. The footage they launched included what they described because the missile launch focusing on the drone, with a person off-camera reciting the Houthi’s slogan after it was hit: “God is the best; dying to America; dying to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The footage additionally featured a number of close-ups of drone components, together with the emblem of Basic Atomics, the drone’s producer, and serial numbers equivalent to identified elements made by the corporate.
Because the Houthis took management of the nation’s north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the US army has misplaced at the least 5 drones to the insurgent. Aside from Thursday’s shootdown, US has misplaced drones in 2017, 2019, 2023, and one earlier this 12 months. Reapers, which price roughly USD 30 million every, can fly at altitudes as much as 50,000 ft and have an endurance of as much as 24 hours earlier than needing to land.
In the meantime, since November, the Houthis have launched greater than 50 assaults on delivery, seized one vessel, and sunk one other, based on the US Maritime Administration. Houthi assaults have decreased in current weeks because the rebels have been focused by a US-led airstrike marketing campaign in Yemen. Delivery by means of the Pink Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined as a result of menace. American officers have speculated that the rebels could also be operating out of weapons on account of the US-led marketing campaign towards them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in current months. Nevertheless, the rebels have renewed their assaults within the final week.
“A US Air Drive MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen,” confirmed US Air Drive Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defence Division spokesperson, to The Related Press on Saturday. He added that an investigation was ongoing, with out offering additional particulars.
The Houthis reported that the downing occurred on Thursday over their stronghold within the nation’s Saada province. The footage they launched included what they described because the missile launch focusing on the drone, with a person off-camera reciting the Houthi’s slogan after it was hit: “God is the best; dying to America; dying to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The footage additionally featured a number of close-ups of drone components, together with the emblem of Basic Atomics, the drone’s producer, and serial numbers equivalent to identified elements made by the corporate.
Because the Houthis took management of the nation’s north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the US army has misplaced at the least 5 drones to the insurgent. Aside from Thursday’s shootdown, US has misplaced drones in 2017, 2019, 2023, and one earlier this 12 months. Reapers, which price roughly USD 30 million every, can fly at altitudes as much as 50,000 ft and have an endurance of as much as 24 hours earlier than needing to land.
In the meantime, since November, the Houthis have launched greater than 50 assaults on delivery, seized one vessel, and sunk one other, based on the US Maritime Administration. Houthi assaults have decreased in current weeks because the rebels have been focused by a US-led airstrike marketing campaign in Yemen. Delivery by means of the Pink Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined as a result of menace. American officers have speculated that the rebels could also be operating out of weapons on account of the US-led marketing campaign towards them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in current months. Nevertheless, the rebels have renewed their assaults within the final week.
