NYN | News
The American Atlantic Council, one of the prominent strategic research centers close to Washington’s decision-makers, acknowledged that the repeated downing of American MQ-9 Reaper spy drones by the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) is not merely a series of isolated attacks, but rather part of a sequence of successful strikes that reflect a qualitative development in the Houthis’ military capabilities. The group has become a nightmare that threatens American technological superiority in the region.
The center’s report pointed out that since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the Houthis have managed to turn Yemen into a complex battleground, where American drones are suffering from unprecedented loss rates, weakening Pentagon intelligence and targeting systems. This hampers their ability to track the group’s movements or carry out precise strikes, which could benefit Washington’s adversaries by exploiting this gap.
The report explained that the recent downings of MQ-9 drones (each valued at $32 million) demonstrate the Houthis’ adoption of advanced electronic warfare and signal jamming techniques.
It noted that the Houthis’ control over large parts of Yemen’s airspace has reduced the operational flexibility of American aircraft, despite their technological superiority.
The report confirmed that continuing to deploy drones at the current pace will result in heavy material and moral losses for Washington, urging the Pentagon to conduct a comprehensive review of its regional deployment strategy, especially since the Houthis (Ansar Allah) turn every downing into a victory both locally and internationally.
The report concluded by stating that the most important lesson from the MQ-9 downings is that technological superiority alone is no longer sufficient to enforce dominance. The Houthis are writing a new chapter in the history of asymmetric confrontations, where willpower and innovation turn the tools of the poor into weapons that threaten the strongest armies.
