What happened to the Reaper drones? Houthis found an unexploded StormBreaker. Loss of an F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet
The catastrophe that could have happened during the bombing of Yemen could theoretically have been even greater, but this is completely sufficient for now. The best small-diameter glide bomb GBU-53/B StormBreaker, one of the most advanced Western types of aerial ammunition regardless of origin and purpose, ended up in the hands of the Houthis. Western, that is, for now. We will see what the target station of the sample will be.
It is worth recalling Iran’s ability to incorporate advanced technologies into the development trees of its weapons. In 2006, during the Lebanon War, Hezbollah captured an Israeli anti-tank guided missile of the Spike-MR type. (The Spike LR2 PTRS was also used by Slovak troops.) Later, Hezbollah used the Iranian anti-tank missile Almas against Israeli troops, which was probably developed using the specimen it had obtained.
In another incident, it was claimed that on December 5, 2011, Iran used the Russian 1L222 Avtobaza system to land an advanced American RQ-170 Sentinel drone and used the knowledge gained to develop the Shahed 171 Simorgh and Shahed 191 Saegheh drones. Later, Iran was able to share its knowledge of the development of unmanned aircraft with the Russian Federation.
Iranian Shahed 191 drone:
However, the exercise of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air Force with Su-22M4 aircraft with Yasin guided glide bombs certainly accelerated the introduction of UMPK-block bombs into the armament of Russian VKS during a special military operation.
These were met with countermeasures from the Ukrainian side, and the Russians responded by improving the guidance components.
The way to prevent jamming of aerial bombs is to add more sensors and thus guidance methods. This is exactly what the GBU-53/B StormBreaker bomb excelled at. We will see whether the development of this artillery ammunition will be completed sooner in the USA or in quotes Yemen, the interest in obtaining a valuable sample from other powers will be quite large, the bomb landed gently in the sand and is almost intact. The information about the discovery of the GBU-53/B bomb was first reported on 25.4.2025 on the X network by OSINTdefender
Another major setback befell the US NAVY on 28.4.2025. An F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136 has reportedly fallen overboard in the Red Sea while being towed by a tractor in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). One sailor sustained minor injuries.
The F/A-18E was reportedly being towed in the hangar bay when the crew lost control of the aircraft being towed. Both the aircraft and the tractor fell into the sea. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the carrier had to make a sharp maneuver to avoid Houthi fire, resulting in the loss of the aircraft and the tractor. Sailors operating the tractor towing the aircraft took immediate action to move away from the aircraft before it fell overboard.
Foreign reporting on the incident involving the loss of the tractor and fighter jet has consistently supported the evasive maneuver version:
Meanwhile, the losses of American MQ-9 Reaper drones continue. Only their frequency is increasing. As of March 15, 2025, the US had already lost 7 MQ-9 Reaper drones in the Yemen area, the unit price of which is over 30 million USD, which must be added to the price of the aforementioned F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter, which in 2021 amounted to 67 million USD. Of course, the calculation is only valid assuming that the US is still really losing only “old” MQ-9 Reaper models. As stated in previous reports, Poland ordered three new MQ-9B SkyGuardian on December 12, 2024 for 310 million USD.
Houthis near the wreckage of an MQ-9 Reaper drone. The US does not state the cause of their crash, but the Houthis claim that they were shot down:
Martin Scholz
