News - Yemen:   The Yemeni Air Defenses of the Army and Popular Committees has shot down a US-made spy drone run by the US-Saudi aggression in Marib Governorate, while it was carrying out hostile actions.

"Our air defenses shot down a US-made combat spy drone, ScanEagle, while it was carrying out hostile acts Saturday evening in the airspace of Al-Juba of Marib Governorate," the Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e said in a brief statement.

The Armed Forces spokesman indicated that the operation of shooting down the drone was carried out with an undisclosed missile.

The defenses of the Yemeni Armed Forces have shot down four ScanEagle spy drones last December in Al-Jawf and Marib governorates, in addition to a number of Chinese-made spy drones in Shabwa governorate.

On December 24, a ScanEagle drone was shot down with an undisclosed missile, while it was carrying out hostile acts in the airspace of the Al-Yatama area in the Khub Wa Ash-Sha’af District, Al-Jawf Governorate. On the 16th of December, the Air Defenses shot down a spy drone of the same type in the skies of Wadi Ubaidah in the Marib Governorate.

On December 10, the Air Defenses shot down a US-made ScanEagle spy drone over Serwah district in Marib governorate.

The Air Defenses were also able, on December 8, 2021, to shoot down a CH-4 spy drone in Al-Wadi district in Marib, in addition to another ScanEagle drone over Al-Juba region in the same governorate. 

On the 4th of December, the Air Defenses shot down a ScanEagle spy drone operated by the US-Saudi aggression in the airspace of the 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.

Enjoying complete arms, logistical, and political support on the part of the US, Saudi Arabia and a number of its allies started a war against Yemen in March 2015 to restore power to Yemen's former Washington and Riyadh-aligned officials.

The war has stopped way short of the goal, while killing tens of thousands of Yemenis in the process and pushing the entire Yemen close to the brink of outright famine.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have vowed, though, not to lay down their arms until Yemen's complete liberation from the US-Saudi aggression.

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.