Houthis Down Another Reaper Amidst Ongoing U.S. Vessel-Protection Strikes
On Monday, Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed to have shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper attack drone, a mainstay of U.S. Air Force antiterrorism operations in the Middle East.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said that the group shot down the MQ-9 with a "locally-made surface-to-air missile" over Dhamar Governorate on Sunday. He claimed that it was the 10th Reaper that the group has downed in the course of its conflict with U.S. forces.
As evidence, Saree released a video purporting to show the shootdown and a second clip showing Houthi personnel combing through an apparent crash site. Some of the components visible in the footage are consistent with an MQ-9, including a three-bladed propeller at the rear of the aircraft.
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U.S. defense officials did not confirm the claimed shoot-down. In a statement, U.S. Central Command said only that it destroyed one unspecified missile system in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen on Sunday. The Houthi munition was targeted and destroyed "to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer." Centcom's forces regularly strike Houthi positions in order to prevent the launch of antiship missiles and drones at merchant vessels and warships in the Red Sea.
The Houthi militia is backed by Iran and benefits heavily from Iranian weapons technology, according to Western analysts. On Sunday, the group claimed that it launched a new class of "hypersonic" ballistic missile aimed at a target in central Israel, more than 1,200 miles away from the Yemeni border. The missile appears to have penetrated Israel's air defenses, and interceptors damaged but did not destroy it, Israeli officials said. Nine people suffered minor injuries from falling debris.
Israeli defense officials said that the missile was supersonic, not hypersonic, and that it did not maneuver in flight. Maneuvering hypersonic missiles require highly advanced aerospace technology, and only a handful of nations have advanced hypersonic programs.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised swift retaliation, and he reminded Houthi leaders of the devastating Israeli airstrike on the port of Hodeidah two months ago.