New Weapons in the Yemen Desert

After shooting down 22 American MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance drones in a row, the US EF-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft equipped with four top-of-the-line AGM-88E advanced anti-radiation guided missiles conducted searches all day but failed to locate the position of the Yemen Houthi anti-aircraft missiles.

The Yemen Houthi armed forces have discovered new weapons in the desert! The air defense system of the Yemen Houthi armed forces is very backward. It mainly consists of scrapped SAM-2 fixed-position air defense missiles, SAM-6 air defense missiles.

There are also SAM-8 Hornet air defense missiles and SAM-9 Pantsir-type air defense missiles, as well as AA-8 Aphid air-to-air missile converted air defense systems. These are all air defense missile systems from the Soviet Union in the 1950s to 1970s.

Iran has provided Product 358 air defense loitering munitions, Product 359 air defense loitering munitions, as well as air defense missile systems modified using Russian R-27T Poplar air-to-air missiles and R-77 Python air-to-air missiles.

However, how can the Yemen Houthi armed forces stop the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned reconnaissance drones of the US military from obtaining continuous battlefield awareness over central Yemen? How do they discover, warn, lock onto high-performance drones like the US military's EF-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft?

Because the Yemen Houthi armed forces have discovered new weapons and military technologies in the desert. According to the US War Institute, cryptocurrency fraud investigation company TRM Labs found that the Yemen Houthi armed forces have been purchasing military equipment and technology from abroad using cryptocurrency.

About two countries are involved in supporting the weapon technology of the Yemen Houthi armed forces. It was discovered that a cryptocurrency account controlled by the Yemen Houthi armed forces sent $900 million worth of cryptocurrency to a Russian intermediary company.

This Russian intermediary company has frequent contact with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the financial backer of the Yemen Houthi armed forces, Sayed Jamil.

Therefore, some analysts believe that the Yemen Houthi armed forces use cryptocurrency to acquire needed advanced seekers, optoelectronic fire control systems, radar technologies, electronic warfare equipment, and drone spare parts through the Russian intermediary company. Then, weapons and equipment are secretly transported into the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen via Iran's secret arms ships. Ultimately, the Yemen Houthi armed forces upgrade their own air defense, early warning, and missile strike precision and capabilities. It still looks like an old Soviet SA-6 air defense missile from the 1970s.

However, the seeker head and electronic components of the modified SA-6 missile have been updated. It still looks like a small mobile air defense radar installed on a pickup truck, but it is now a small phased array radar.

The modified SA-6 missiles and R-77 Python missiles have a maximum altitude of 10,000 meters and a range of up to 20 kilometers. Once the American MQ-9 Reaper drone is detected by the radar, it's basically doomed.

In fact, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, since August 2024, Russian arms dealers and Ulyanovsk Oblast MP Viktor Bout have been transporting various weapons to the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. These include AK-74 assault rifles, Kornet anti-tank missiles, and air defense weapons.

Why the "Yemen Sandal Army" Can Hold Off Two US Aircraft Carriers

The Yemen Houthi armed forces are not an ordinary guerrilla force. The missile power of the Yemen Houthi armed forces exceeds that of more than 90% of regular armies in the world. Even in Europe, there are no more than three countries whose ballistic missile forces exceed those of the Yemen Houthi armed forces.

The Yemen Houthi cruise missiles include models such as the Holy City 1 cruise missile, Holy City 2 cruise missile, Holy City 3 cruise missile, Holy City 4 cruise missile, and Holy City Z anti-ship cruise missile. The range of the Holy City series cruise missiles is 1,650 kilometers.

The Burkan-1 ballistic missile, derived from Iran's Meteor missile technology, has a range of 800 kilometers; the Burkan-2 ballistic missile has a range of 1,000 kilometers; the Burkan-3 ballistic missile has a range of 1,200 kilometers.

There are also "Qaher-1" and "Qaher-M2" army tactical ballistic missiles, as well as the most advanced hypersonic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers called the Palestinian-2.

The Yemen Houthi armed forces have at least 1,000 to 2,000 ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. Among the more than 200 countries and regions in the world, only a few countries like us, Russia, the United States, Iran, North Korea, etc., have this many or more cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Ukraine has received comprehensive support from the United States and Europe, yet it only has more than 300 ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. Now, on the Middle Eastern battlefield, the US aircraft carriers hide 800 kilometers offshore, relying solely on airstrikes to launch long-range weapons.

But the Yemen Houthi armed forces cannot be defeated. They have missiles, just like everyone else. Every time the US strikes, the Yemen Houthi armed forces can retaliate. When the US retreats further, the Yemen Houthi armed forces can still strike. However, the US dare not deploy ground troops, so it's just like this!

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7496412095785796135/

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