Yemen: The echoes of the Yemeni Armed Forces’ superiority over advanced US military technology continue to resonate, revealing the steadfastness of Yemen’s historic victory over the United States in the Red Sea battle. These victories continue to influence the future of all potential conflicts involving Washington.  

In the latest development, the Atlantic Council, an American research center, published a detailed report last weekend analyzing the unprecedented breakthrough achieved by the Yemeni Armed Forces in countering US combat drone technology (MQ-9) by downing 14 of these drones during the battle to support Gaza.  

According to the American center, this "long series" of successful Yemeni strikes against US drones represents an "unprecedented" achievement and highlights "the growing offensive capabilities and improved targeting skills of Yemeni forces." The report noted that the "tactical efficiency" of the Yemeni Armed Forces has seen a "noticeable escalation" during the battle to support Gaza.  

The report stated that the "MQ-9 drone is the backbone of the US drone fleet, providing American military planners with tactical depth in Yemen’s rugged interior. However, despite its technological superiority, it has proven vulnerable to basic anti-aircraft systems. Undoubtedly, the deployment of drones remains a preferred alternative to manned aircraft when operating in high-risk environments like Yemen."  

The report considered that "the rate of loss of MQ-9 drones in combat since mid-November 2023 deserves the attention of American military strategists, as each of these drones is valued at approximately $30 million. Losing them at this rate—nearly one per month—is unacceptable."  

The report explained that "tactically, the downing of MQ-9 drones primarily aims to blind American intelligence and targeting systems. Operation Poseidon Archer relied heavily on data collected by drones to plan joint US-UK airstrikes on hostile ground targets in Yemeni territory." This means that the downing of MQ-9 drones was a key and pivotal factor in its value and impact on the enemy’s front in the battle of the "Promised Conquest."  

The report also pointed out that this success was complemented by another achievement: the Yemeni Armed Forces’ ability to "conceal strategic locations." According to the report, this led to "increased reliance by the Western coalition on drones to obtain intelligence," which backfired on the enemy’s front with the unprecedented downing of MQ-9 drones.  

This indicates that the Yemeni Armed Forces have been able to impose their rhythm on the battle to such an extent that they have limited the enemy’s options to specific tools and methods they can handle. This has left the US-UK coalition appearing completely out of control.  

The report considered that the impact of the Yemeni Armed Forces’ successful operations against US MQ-9 drones extends beyond the temporal and spatial circumstances of the battle to support Gaza. It exposes US technology to other adversaries in the region and the world, suggesting that the downing of these drones could provide Yemen with sensitive information that could be shared with those adversaries to enhance efforts to counter US military technology in any future conflict.  

The report stated that the Yemeni Armed Forces "have proven their ability to partially weaken US combat superiority, undermine US air superiority, and reveal significant vulnerabilities in the defense layers of the MQ-9 drone. Washington’s adversaries may seek to exploit these gaps to advance their strategic interests."  

The report suggested that the US "take advantage of the current calm to adjust its drone deployment strategy."  

This proposal expands the implications of the historic US defeat in Yemen during the battle of the "Promised Conquest." Yemen’s naval operations forced the US military to make extensive (and so far ineffective) tactical, technical, and technological adjustments regarding warships.

Now, it appears that Washington also faces the need to make similar adjustments regarding its drone fleet, which may also extend to manned fighter jets, especially after recent statements by US officials revealed that Yemeni defensive missiles were launched against an American F-16 fighter jet off the Yemeni coast for the first time. They considered this a sign of the development of Yemen’s air defense capabilities.  

The spotlight on the implications of downing US MQ-9 drones in Yemen represents the collapse of the secrecy policy adopted by the US military for over a year regarding this aspect of the battle. The Pentagon was often forced to acknowledge the downing of some of these drones without specifying the location, refusing to provide any details about these operations and questioning the Yemeni Armed Forces’ statistics on the number of MQ-9 drones downed. 

This policy was primarily driven by the inability to present an alternative narrative that would soften the blow of the dramatic fall of this drone technology, which is considered a pride of the US Air Force. This is similar to the targeting of aircraft carriers, which the US military tried to deny outright, but the facts later emerged through direct and indirect admissions. This confirms that the US defeat in Yemen was not limited to the operational and tactical aspects on the ground but also extended to the "narrative" in the media.