HOUTHIS CAPTURE INTACT US$180 MILLION MQ9 REAPER DRONE

 A couple of days back the Houthis in Yemen "shot down" another American MQ9 Reaper drone. This is the sixth MQ9 Reaper drone to be brought down by the Houthis. At US$180 million a pop that is US$1.9 Billion worth of American hardware that is now sitting on the desert in Yemen. Here is a picture of the latest MQ9 that was 'shot' down.

There is something really odd about this drone in the picture. It has not suffered any strike damage at all. You can see the drone is intact. If it fell out of the sky even at 50 feet there would be significant damage and breaking up. This drone can fly up to 50,000 feet in the air. That is 16 km high.

This drone is intact. As if it was brought down by someone "hijacking" the drone's flight controls and landing the craft in the desert. It may have made a belly landing (the propeller is damaged) but there are no drag marks on the sand. Or it could be a poor quality picture.

The Americans lost the war in Vietnam, they achieved nothing in Iraq, they got kicked out of Afghanistan and now they cannot handle the Houthis in Yemen.

The Houthis have also claimed to have hit the American super carrier USS Eisenhower ('Ike') TWICE in the Red Sea using drones and missiles. The Americans issued a half-hearted denial but have not shown any video footage of the USS Ike since the Houthi claims.  

If the Houthis had hit the USS Ike with drones and missiles they would have caused minor damage only. No way they could sink an aircraft carrier. But that is not the point. The point is how could rag tag Houthis launch cheapo missiles and drones and then hit the world's most expensive (US$13 BILLION) naval combat vessel? 

The American people are being scammed.

The views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.