With the United States and Britain cooperating in carrying out military strikes on Yemen, the neglected Houthis have not only not succumbed, but have increased the intensity of the confrontation. According to the report, the Houthis successfully shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone, which is the second drone of the same type shot down by the Houthis since November last year. The Houthis are clearly aggressive, having warned Yehya Sarea in response to 18 airstrikes by the US-British coalition that Yeh's Houthi spokesman, Yahya Sareya, would be met with reciprocal repression. After all, the United States is the world's largest power, and the chances of victory against a regional armed group against a big country are almost zero, but I didn't expect that the Houthis really dare to speak and act.
It can be said that Iran's support is inseparable behind this. It is well known that the Houthis are firmly supported by Iran, and it is precisely because of this that the United States wants to strike at the Houthis, on the one hand, to prevent military operations in the Red Sea region, and on the other hand, to deter Iran. But in any case, the United States did not expect the Houthis to intensify their counterattack, and they were very caught off guard. Now, let alone being caught off guard, the United States may be helpless. Yemen's Houthis shot down the U.S. Reaper fighter jet, whose main use is intelligence gathering, at a cost of more than $50 million.
On the surface, this matter may seem inconsequential, but what if Iran learns the technology of the MQ-9 UAV? Iran is known to be good at reverse engineering, and if the Houthis sell parts of the MQ-9 to Iran for economic reasons, it is likely that an Iraqi version of the "Grim Reaper" will soon be available.
Iran is a potential beneficiary of a "dangerous encounter" in the Black Sea when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed into the Black Sea in March last year. In the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia turned to Iran for help, and Iran provided Russia with a large number of low-cost drones, which shined on the battlefield and gradually reversed Russia's decline. Although Iran has been sanctioned by the United States and other Western countries for a long time, Iran's development in drones and missiles has been quite rapid over the years, which is enough to show that Iran is not only self-reliant, but also has mature reverse engineering technology. If Russia succeeds in salvaging the American Reaper drone this time, it is very likely that Russia will share part of the aircraft and technology with Iran.
This time it is the same, it is inevitable that the Houthis will sell parts of the MQ-9 to Iran, even if Russia did not hand over part of the body to Iran before, now Iran can also get the parts of the "Reaper" drone for research. So, to some extent, Iran and Yemen's Houthis are a win-win situation, but the United States is the only one who is "deflated".