Seven U.S. Surveillance Reaper Drones Taken Down by Houthis in Yemen

• The Houthi rebels have reportedly taken down seven U.S. Reaper drones in a span of six weeks
• The surveillance and attack drones were found crashing in the water and some on land
• Investigations are underway to find the exact method the drones were struck down 

The Houthi rebels also known as the Shia Islamist military group have been aggressively taking down U.S. surveillance devices since the past few weeks. According to a Military.com report, the Yemen-based group shot down seven U.S. reaper drones costing the Pentagon a loss of over $200 million.

The retaliation recorded over a span of six weeks involved taking down three unmanned drones flying over Yemen in the past week. They were found crashing into the water with some scattering over the ground.

On conditions of anonymity, a defense official speculated the cause of the drone strike could either be hostile fire or something else. It will be confirmed once the investigations are completed.

In retaliation, the Houthis fired attack drones at the U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden however, failed to hit any target. 

Reaper drones were recorded to have been taken down on March 31, and on April 3, 9, 13, 18, 19, and 22. The attack and surveillance drones were built by General Atomics and flew at altitudes of over 40,000 feet. It costs about $30 million each. 

Addressing the U.S. drones, the Military.com report read, “The U.S. has increased its attacks on the Houthis, launching daily strikes since March 15, when President Donald Trump ordered a new, expanded campaign.” These attacks are to subdue their actions around maritime. 

Donald Trump had warned of using overwhelming lethal force to bring an end to Houthi attacks. The U.S. successfully destroyed several command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, and weapons storage locations recently.

Over 800 targets were struck down including hundreds of Houthi fighters, the Central Command spokesperson Dave EastBurn said. It is also causing civilian casualties about which the U.S. senators wrote to the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as the intention was to reduce civilian harm.