Government forces in Marib found the wreckage of an Iranian-made surface-to-air missile, after the Houthi militia attempted to use it against an Arab coalition aircraft in the province, months ago.
A source at the Ministry of Defense revealed to Al-Masdar Online information about the newly manufactured Iranian missile, which is one of the most dangerous Iranian weapons that have reached Yemen in recent years.
about the missile
The source, who asked not to be identified, said that the army's missile experts have determined the type of missile, which is a "SAM" type, an Iranian-manufactured copy of the Russian-origin missile, called "Raketa 358" of the Iranian air defense system, and it can be launched from a platform. Primitive mobile, like small carts.
The source explained that the Iranian-developed weapon enables the air defense system to be used to destroy helicopters, large and medium unmanned aircraft, as well as high-altitude attack aircraft, up to about 8 km, and for a horizontal range of up to 100 km.
The source indicated that the army obtained the missile's wreckage earlier last July, when the Houthis announced the downing of a US-made MQ-9 drone in Serwah district, west of Marib.
In its latest report issued on February 19 of this year, the United Nations international team of experts had provided information on the possibility of the Houthis obtaining this type of Iranian missile, but said that the team did not have sufficient information about their use by the Houthis.
There was no documented evidence of the Houthis' use of these missiles in Yemen, according to the source in the Ministry of Defense, who considered this missile as evidence of Iran's continued support and arming of the Houthi militia, in violation of international laws that prohibit the flow of weapons into the country.
Houthis and planes
For years, the Houthi militia has been unable to show any reaction in front of the coalition planes that controlled the Yemeni airspace in the first hours of the "Decisive Storm" launch on March 26, 2015, and the flying aircraft did not face any significant obstacles, except for a technical defect that caused a fall and landing. Forced use of limited aircraft throughout the first years of the war, according to coalition data.
But the situation has changed significantly since mid-2019, when the Houthi militia announced in June that its air defenses had managed to shoot down the first MQ9 drone, an American-made “drone”, while it was flying in the sky of Hodeidah Governorate. With a "domestically developed" missile, the militia's military spokesman said in August of the same year: "We have the ability to neutralize a large number of enemy aircraft."
In a statement in particular at the time, the Central Command of the US Army did not deny the Houthi announcement, but the US military announced in the same month that the Houthis had shot down a US drone with Iran's help, without specifying its type.
Houthi announcements followed after that, as the militia announced the downing of a drone in August of the same year, and a video clip was published that was said to be the moment of its capture, while the CNN TV website published the confirmation of an official American source for the news, and said that the drone was an MQ model. The -9, which is the latest and most efficient American multi-purpose drone on the battlefields, and was shot down by an Iranian missile.
American "MQ9" planes are constantly flying in the skies of Yemen, carrying out strikes from time to time targeting "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula", according to what a military source confirmed to Al-Masdar Online, noting that the presence of these missiles in the hands of the militias constitutes a real threat. For the US Air Force and the Arab Coalition.
The militia also announced the downing of an Apache helicopter on the northern border (it is the only one piloted, while all the planes announced to have been shot down are a march), as well as downing of various types of planes, all of which are "drone", in Hodeidah, Dhamar, and Sana'a. Saada, Al-Jawf, and Marib, some of the Chinese “Wing Loong” models, others of the American “SCAN EAGLE” model, the Turkish “Karayel” and the American “RQ 20”, which the militia announced to have been shot down in Haradh District, Hajjah Governorate on the second of May. August 2020.
Where did the missiles come from?
With every announcement by the militia about shooting down a plane, it says that the operation was carried out with a "locally developed" missile, but the military source denies this and says: "The high technology of the missile belies the Houthi claim. These weapons came from Iran, copies of which were found in shipments previously seized by US forces in The Arabian Sea and the Red Sea, off Somalia, are missiles that Iran has developed to counter US aviation.
These missiles, according to the information available about them, one of them consists of three parts, two engines and an explosive warhead, which can be charged separately and then assembled. Once the missile is launched and flies at a sufficient speed, a solid fuel booster engine falls and the launch engine takes over, then searches for targets.
Over the past years, the United States, the Arab coalition and the Yemeni government announced the interception of dozens of arms shipments in various areas on the Yemeni land and sea and its surroundings, on their way from Iran to the Houthi militia, which has been waging a war against the government and the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, since its coup against the state seven years ago. .
But the most prominent of these shipments are two shipments, the US Navy announced their interception, the first in the Arabian Sea, south of Yemen, and it was on a small wooden boat and was intercepted by the USS Forest Sherman on November 25, 2019, and the other on February 9 of this year and intercepted On board two boats by the American ship "Normandy" in the Red Sea.
The first shipment included "parts of Iranian missiles", the number of which was not specified by the US military, but described it as a "large cache." march.
The US Navy statement did not specify the type of "surface-to-air" missiles confiscated, but several sources confirmed that, through the published photos, the missiles in the aforementioned 358 shipments, and those photos correspond to the private photos obtained by the source online, of the missile in the forces' possession. government in Mareb.
It seems that Iran has transferred this type of missile to its allies in Yemen to test it against the American planes owned by the Saudi and Emirati air forces participating in the war. The tail of the American plane "MQ-9" that killed General Qassem Soleimani in the famous operation in Baghdad last year, according to American news sites.
Not only in Yemen
Iran’s export of these weapons is not limited to the Houthis only. According to the American NBC News website, these missiles are used by Iran, and were previously exported to Venezuela, and the Americans reclassified this missile, and published a photo of a copy of it seized by arms dealers who supposedly participated in its transfer in addition to the regime’s Anti-tank missiles to the Houthis.
And late last year, after announcing the seizure of the shipment in the Red Sea, Israeli sources expressed fears that the Lebanese Hezbollah possessed these missiles, suggesting that this missile was what Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah meant when he promised to surprise the Israeli Air Force in every large-scale military confrontation. with the party.
The American website also quoted one of the observers who followed the development of this missile at the beginning of 2020, estimating that the missile shot down a CIA plane that was flying over Afghanistan, and said that the American plane was flying at a height that a missile from the air defense system could not reach. MANPADS, but with an anti-aircraft missile of a suitable range, such as: Raketa 358.
In an article translated by the Sana’a Center for Studies, the Israeli “Netsv” website stated in early December of last year that the CIA plane that crashed in Afghanistan and led to the death of a number of agency employees was one of those involved in the assassination of Iranian General “Qassem Soleimani” in Afghanistan. Baghdad, and the supervisor of the covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Middle East, "Ayatollah Michael - Michael Dander."
New missile in Iraq draws attention
Last Thursday (October 21st), the Iraqi security authorities announced that they had thwarted a missile attack targeting a military airport in the north of the country, and said: "After receiving intelligence, the National Security Agency, the Internal Intelligence and the Popular Mobilization found a missile equipped to target the Helweh airport, north of the Tuz Khurmatu district in the province. Salahuddin".
For its part, US sources said that the missile was a Type 358, "a surface-to-air munition that was identified for the first time in Yemen during a shift by the Central Command," referring to the operation to intercept the smuggled shipment in the Red Sea.
A journalist working as a reporter for the Daily Beast said that the missile "was fired at American drones in Yemen," noting that "the infrared lenses on the side were designed to overcome countermeasures in helicopters."
And the reporter expected "that someone tried to shoot down a helicopter or a drone" in the vicinity of the Iraqi base.
But a well-known weapons expert active on Twitter, called "Pataramis," ruled out that anyone had tried to launch the missile, citing that "the optical protection cover has not been removed," expecting that the missile was placed in the place a warning message, the first of this kind.
The expert, who defines himself as an "open source military technology analyst," confirmed that the missile poses a threat to the American MQ planes, which he expected that the Houthis had already succeeded in shooting down planes of the same type in Yemen with it.
He said that the West had succeeded in penetrating the technology of the missile, adding: "The penetrating technology does not mean that it is less lethal," but that "catching the ground-based guidance unit would be a big thing," as he put it.