Houthis Say They Shot Down a U.S. Drone Off Yemen

GlitzyArmrest@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 37 points –
seattletimes.com

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is investigating the cause of a crash of an American military surveillance drone off the coast of Yemen Monday morning, two U.S. officials said.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, confirmed that the drone, an MQ-9 Reaper, fell out of the sky. Iranian-backed Houthi militants said on Monday that they had downed the drone near the port city of Hodeida, in western Yemen.

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an American military surveillance drone

So they shot down a low-flying drone that had no weapons? And they're bragging about it?

It’s a $32 million drone. I’d probably bring it up myself in conversation of I shot one down.

Every time the U.S. shoots a missile at the Houthis, a couple of million dollars is lost. This really isn't a big deal.

“Yemeni air defenses were able to shoot down an American plane (MQ-9) with a suitable missile while it was carrying out hostile missions against our country on behalf of the Zionist entity,” a Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a statement.

“Yemeni armed forces will not hesitate to take more military measures and carry out more qualitative operations against all hostile targets in defense of beloved Yemen,” the statement said.

I'm struggling to see which part of this statement is braggadocious.

The latter part. No they won't. They can't do shit about most hostile targets. This wasn't even hostile, it was a surveillance drone. It wasn't going to attack them.

Why do you think surveillance units cannot be hostile? By that logic, you'd be fine with the Houthis flying surveillance drones over US soil.

At the bare minimum, it's a 5000 pound drone that could do damage if it falls out of the sky. Sure, the chances are minimal, but why should Houthis be expected to bear that risk?

Why should I give a shit if Houthis fly surveillance drones over US soil?

And whether or not you consider that particular drone to be a hostile target, they still can't do shit about most hostile targets. They're not going to be able to do anything against all the U.S. and British naval ships that they're facing. As has been demonstrated repeatedly since this began.