U.S. forces for the first time destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile preparing to launch Wednesday, a U.S. defense official told The War Zone. The incident took place at about 3:30 p.m. local time, U.S. Central Command said.
“U.S. forces identified the missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that it presented an imminent threat to U.S. aircraft operating in the region,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Jan. 31 at approximately 3:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), USCENTCOM forces struck and destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile prepared to launch. U.S. forces identified the missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that it presented an imminent threat to U.S. aircraft.
In addition to pre-planned attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to their ongoing threats to shipping in the Red Sea region, the U.S. has carried out several preemptive attackson Houthi anti-ship missiles preparing to launch.
As we have reported in the past, the Houthis used Vympel R-27 air-to-air missiles converted to truck-mounted SAMs to attack Saudi aircraft in 2018. There was also intelligence at that time indicating short-range R-73 air-to-air missiles have also been adapted into SAMs.
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