Yemeni army shoots down another Saudi drone, this time over Ma’rib
Yemeni forces have shot down a combat and surveillance drone belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition while hovering over the central province of Ma’rib.
According to Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said on Monday that the aircraft was of CH-4 type and was shot down earlier in the day by an 'appropriate missile' whose type has not been disclosed yet.
The aircraft, operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force, was on hostile missions in the airspace of the Medghal district when it was targeted, he added.
The 1,350-kilogram drone, whose wingspan reaches 18 meters, has a 3,500- to 5,000-kilometer flight range and a 30- to 40-hour endurance. It is also capable of carrying six missiles and a payload of up to 250 to 345 kilograms.
It is one of the most powerful in terms of its payload capacity and aviation efficiency, capable of flying at an altitude between 5,000 and 7,000 meters. Therefore, it can stay outside of the effective range of most anti-aircraft guns.
The advanced drone is able to fire missiles from an altitude of more than 5,000 kilometers.
Back in January, Yemeni forces shot down another CH-4 drone with a surface-to-air missile as it was flying in the skies over the northern province of Jawf.
The Saudi-led coalition has seen several of its combat and spy drones shot down in retaliatory strikes by Yemenis in recent years.
Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was in the league headed by the regime in Riyadh.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies decided that Hadi must regain power in Yemen, and the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which had already taken over, must be crushed.
To that end, a bloody campaign against the Yemeni nation began.
Ansarullah came to the defense of the people, assisting the Yemeni army against the invaders.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been killed in coalition airstrikes so far.
The brutal war has also destroyed or closed half of Yemen’s hospitals and clinics, leaving Yemenis helpless particularly at a time when they are in desperate need of medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least 80 percent of the 28-million-strong population of Yemen is also reliant on aid to survive in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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