|
Trending Topics
|
Mideast Insurgents Enter the Age of Drone Warfare
(Wall Street Journal) Dion Nissenbaum and Warren P. Strobel - Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched armed drone attacks with far more precision and reach than the U.S. and its Gulf allies have publicly acknowledged, creating new dangers for America and its allies in the Middle East. A Houthi drone hit a Saudi Aramco oil refinery outside the capital Riyadh in July, while another evaded Emirati air defenses and exploded at Abu Dhabi's international airport. In a strike in January, Houthi fighters used a drone to attack a Yemeni government military parade, killing six people. The Houthis have launched what Saudi officials estimate to be more than 140 attempted drone flights that they have shot down. In recent weeks, Saudi air defenses have shot down at least 17 Houthi drones in Yemen or Saudi Arabia. Their technology has quickly evolved to a plane-shaped model, dubbed UAV-X by UN investigators, that can travel more than 900 miles at a speed of 150 miles-per-hour.