News - Yemen: Military expert Brigadier General Mujib Shamsan affirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces possess a strong combat doctrine and have managed to overcome all challenges and threats while also advancing their domestically developed air defense systems.

Speaking during an interview on Al-Masirah Channel, Shamsan stated that “Yemen’s skies now represent a significant danger to strategic and stealth bombers, including American aircraft,” stressing that the enemy now faces a new equation imposed by the Yemeni Armed Forces through the development of air defenses protecting Yemen's airspace.

He noted that “the skies of Yemen, now off-limits to MQ-9 drones, will one day be prohibited to F-35s, F-16s, and other stealth fighters, as well as aircraft carriers and other naval vessels.”

Shamsan argued that “the US is now moving in the opposite direction of its initial goals, which aimed to weaken Yemen’s capabilities.” Instead, he said, “each act of aggression has only contributed to the growth of Yemen’s military strength—particularly in air defense, ballistic missiles, and drones.”

He added: “The US came to restore deterrence but found itself increasingly drained. It came to break Yemen’s blockade in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, yet now Yemen imposes its own blockade on all US ships and companies.”

He reiterated that “we are witnessing an equation producing outcomes entirely contrary to what the US aimed for, despite the massive military buildup it brought to the aggression.” Shamsan concluded by stating that “America is suffering a compounded defeat—one that matches the scale of its vast mobilization against Yemen.”

Washington’s drones continue to fall one after another in Yemen's provinces. The Yemeni Air Defenses recently brought down their 22nd advanced MQ-9 Reaper off the coast of Hajjah Province.

The downing of 22 drones in just a year and a half stands as a powerful testament to the growing capabilities of the Yemeni Armed Forces and to an escalating confrontation fueled by a determined national will. 

The average unit cost of an MQ-9 is estimated at $33 million, which means the American loss from the downing of the drones in Yemen is already more than $600 million.