News - Yemen: Yemeni Air Defense of the Army and Popular Committees intercepted and shut down early Tuesday a US-made combat drone run by the US-Saudi aggression in Marib governorate.

“Our air defense shot down a US-made ScanEagle spy drone while it was carrying out hostile acts this morning in the airspace of Juba area in Marib governorate,” Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e said in a brief statement.

The statement of the Armed Forces stated that the process of shooting down the combat drone was carried out with an undisclosed weapon and the scenes of the wreckage will be broadcast later.

The statement indicated that this drone is the fifth of the same type that Yemeni Air Defense has shot down during this year.

On September 27, the Air Defense shot down a US-made ScanEagle drone operated by the US-Saudi aggression over Daghal district of Marib governorate.

On August 14, it also shot down a hostile combat drone of the same type with a surface-to-air missile while it was carrying out hostile acts over Madghal district of Marib governorate.

Two US-made spy drones of the same type were shot down, on June 20 and 22, while carrying out hostile acts over Sirwah district of Marib governorate.

The reconnaissance aircraft, whose full name is the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle, is a small, long-endurance, and low-altitude drone built by Insitu, a subsidiary of the American Boeing Company, with an estimated worth of  $11.25 million.

ScanEagle has a range of 1,500km and an endurance of more than 28 hours. The air vehicle can operate at speeds between 80km/h and 126km/h and the cruise speed is 90km/h in level flight. The vehicle achieves a maximum rate of climb of 150m/min to a maximum altitude of 4,880m or 16,000ft.

The role of this type of aircraft emerged during the US war on Iraq, as it carried out more than 1,000 sorties over Iraq’s areas.
 
Saudi Arabia is keen to bring in combat drones from multiple countries to gain qualitative air superiority, most notably US, China and Turkey.

With the ability of the Yemeni air defense to shoot down these drones despite their development, it limits the air superiority of the coalition of aggression, thus weakening the card it is betting on in the battlefield.

In the outcome of the air defense's achievements, the coalition of aggression lost dozens of its various aircraft, warplanes and drones.

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