Breaking: Houthi air defenses shoot down Saudi Tornado warplane over north Yemen

Sunday, 7 January 2018

Breaking: Houthi air defenses shoot down Saudi Tornado warplane over north Yemen

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07/01/2018

BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:27 P.M.) – Houthi rebels have shot down a Saudi warplane whilst it was conducting an attack over northern Yemen. The downed aircraft is of a Western European Cold War-era design.

Reports are emerging that a Panavia Tornado of the Saudi Royal Air Force has been shot down by Houthi air defenses whilst it was on a combat mission in the skies over Saada province in northern Yemen

Initial reports of the aircraft downing did not clarify what kind of warplane had been shot out of the sky, leaving mystery as to whether it belonged to the Saudi or Emirati air forces.

However, the identification of the aircraft as a Panavia Tornado means that it must belong to the Saudi Royal Air Force since it is the only regional air force to use such a warplane.

At the present time, the type of air defense weapon used by Houthi fighters has not been mentioned.

The Panavia Tornado is a joint British-West German-Italian strike fighter aircraft design originally entering service with Western European air forces in 1979.

HOUTHI FORCES DOWNED SAUDI-LED COALITION WARPLANE IN YEMEN’S SA’ADA – REPORTS

On January 7, the Houthis’ air defense forces reportedly shot down a twin-engine Panavia Tornado multirole aircraft belonging to the Saudi-led coalition in the province of Sa’ada in Yemen.

Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported that the warplane was downed with a surface-to-air missile over Kitaf wa al-Boqe’e district of the province.

In January 2018, the Saudi-led coalition continued its intense bombing campaign in Yemen targeting military and civilian infrastructure controlled by the Houthis across the country. Considering that the Houthis lack air-defense capabilities every lose of a warplane is a significant blow to the public image of Saudi-led forces.

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