The Houthis released footage on Friday, alleging to show the terror group shooting down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone during Thursday’s airstrikes on Houthi strongholds in Yemen.
The terror group claimed to have shot down the MQ-9 with a surface-to-air missile.
The Houthis have frequently claimed to have shotdown MQ-9 drones but have offered little evidence to back their claims which are usually denied by the US.
The Trump administration and the previous Biden administration targeted the Iran-backed terror group following frequent Houthi attacks on shipping and on Israel, a Middle Eastern ally.
The MQ-9 Reaper Drone
The MQ-9 drone is reportedly a multi-million dollar surveillance aircraft, with Forbes reporting the value of said drone standing at around $30 million. The drone can fly as high as 50,000 feet with a range of 1,150 miles, the Air Force noted.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone is primarily utilized as an intelligence-collection asset, according to the US Air Force.
The drone boasts “significant loiter time, wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision” weapon capabilities. It also “provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets,” the US Air Force noted.