Iran Provides Suicide Drones to Houthi Rebels in Yemen
Iran has transferred suicide drone technology to Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have used them to disable Saudi-led coalition missile defenses
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 22/03/2017
Conflict Armament Research
Iran has transferred suicide drone technology to Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have used them to disable Saudi-led coalition missile defenses, reports The National.
The drones are used to crash into radar components of the coalition’s US-made Patriot anti-missile batteries, UAE military officials told Conflict Armament Research (CAR). With the radars disabled, the rebels are able to fire volleys of missiles at coalition targets, the report said.
Last year, CAR documented an arms smuggling route from Iran to the Horn of Africa and Yemen that was used to send light weapons and anti-tank missiles to the rebels.
The aerial attack drones are the latest sophisticated weapon that Iran appears to have sent to the Houthis whom they support, allowing the rebels to target the coalition and US naval vessels in the Bab Al Mandeb with anti-ship missiles and a drone attack boat. Using open-source data, the rebels program GPS guidance systems in the drones, which do not carry any video or camera sensors.
The drones found appear to be identical to one of four aerial drones the Houthis said last month they had manufactured domestically, which they called the Qasef-1. The CAR report said they are in fact versions of the Ababil-T drone produced by Iran’s Airca Manufacturing Industrial Company.
Researchers based their analysis on seven drones and one drone engine which the Houthis used in an attack in Yemen’s Marib governorate. Six of the partially assembled Qasef-1 drones were intercepted by the UAE armed forces in Marib on November 27, 2016, after allegedly being smuggled through Oman into Yemen. The seventh drone crash-landed near Aden’s airport, according to UAE forces.
The smuggled drones found in the lorry were missing their nose cones as well as their engines. This may indicate that different components are sent separately.
The serial number prefix of the intercepted drones was identical to the prefix of Iran’s Ababil variants, the report said. The gyroscopes in the drones that researchers were given access to also had a serial number close to an Iranian Ababil drone used by Iranian-backed militia forces in Iraq.
The report said the Chinese-made engine of the crashed drone was identical to the drone engine used in the Marib attack.
Iran has transferred suicide drone technology to Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have used them to disable Saudi-led coalition missile defenses
Conflict Armament Research
Iran has transferred suicide drone technology to Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have used them to disable Saudi-led coalition missile defenses, reports The National.
The drones are used to crash into radar components of the coalition’s US-made Patriot anti-missile batteries, UAE military officials told Conflict Armament Research (CAR). With the radars disabled, the rebels are able to fire volleys of missiles at coalition targets, the report said.
Last year, CAR documented an arms smuggling route from Iran to the Horn of Africa and Yemen that was used to send light weapons and anti-tank missiles to the rebels.
The aerial attack drones are the latest sophisticated weapon that Iran appears to have sent to the Houthis whom they support, allowing the rebels to target the coalition and US naval vessels in the Bab Al Mandeb with anti-ship missiles and a drone attack boat. Using open-source data, the rebels program GPS guidance systems in the drones, which do not carry any video or camera sensors.
The drones found appear to be identical to one of four aerial drones the Houthis said last month they had manufactured domestically, which they called the Qasef-1. The CAR report said they are in fact versions of the Ababil-T drone produced by Iran’s Airca Manufacturing Industrial Company.
Researchers based their analysis on seven drones and one drone engine which the Houthis used in an attack in Yemen’s Marib governorate. Six of the partially assembled Qasef-1 drones were intercepted by the UAE armed forces in Marib on November 27, 2016, after allegedly being smuggled through Oman into Yemen. The seventh drone crash-landed near Aden’s airport, according to UAE forces.
The smuggled drones found in the lorry were missing their nose cones as well as their engines. This may indicate that different components are sent separately.
The serial number prefix of the intercepted drones was identical to the prefix of Iran’s Ababil variants, the report said. The gyroscopes in the drones that researchers were given access to also had a serial number close to an Iranian Ababil drone used by Iranian-backed militia forces in Iraq.
The report said the Chinese-made engine of the crashed drone was identical to the drone engine used in the Marib attack.
