The Yemeni military media published a video of shooting down another US MQ-9 Reaper drone in the airspace of Al-Bayda Governorate.
Yemen’s air defences successfully shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper while it was carrying out “hostile activities”, Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree reported on Tuesday. A locally-made surface-to-air missile shot down the drone, he added.
The footage shows the moment when the missile hits the US aircraft directly and its fragments fall to the ground, according to Arab media.
This is the fifth $30-million drone destroyed by Yemeni forces since the start of the operation in support of Gaza.
Last Friday, Saree also announced the shooting down of a drone of the same class over Marib Governorate. Today’s operation brings the total number of US MQ-9 Reaper drones shot down by Yemeni forces since last October to five.
The Yemeni Armed Forces continue to develop their defense capabilities in order to confront the American-British aggression against our country and continue to carry out their military operations in triumphing for the oppressed Palestinian people until the siege is lifted and the aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is ceased.
Last Wednesday, Saree announced the operation carried out by the navy to target and defeat the US destroyer USS Mason in the Red Sea with a number of anti-ship missiles. He also mentioned that the Yemeni navy and missile forces conducted a joint operation against the Destiny cargo ship in the Red Sea.
US military has been deploying Reaper drones in all conflicts for about the last 20 years for long-range reconnaissance, identification of targets and even possible destruction of these targets with onboard weapons. However, Reapers are quite vulnerable and highly visible to radar detection equipment. In an air defence environment, they become an easy target.
