The air defense fighters of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement (Houthis) managed to intercept an American-made F-15 fighter jet of the Royal Saudi Air Force.
A single multi-purpose aircraft capable of carrying weapons for attacking air and ground targets was detected using a thermal imaging system.
According to local sources, a surface-to-air missile of the Fater-1 complex was fired at him, which is an upgraded version of the Soviet Kvadrat anti-aircraft missile system developed in the early 70s - an export version of the well-known Kub air defense system.
Video footage of the rocket launch appeared on social networks: after taking off, it made a sharp maneuver and, catching up with the "fifteenth", exploded, showering it with a dense cloud of fragments.
However, the winged machine, shooting off heat traps, continued its flight and, apparently, the pilot managed to take the plane into his airspace. Therefore, it is unclear what happened next: did he manage to land at one of the Kingdom's air bases or was he then forced to eject.
At least, so far only fragments of the missile itself have been demonstrated, and the command of the Saudi Air Force remains silent about what happened.
This is the fifth incident with an F-15 in the skies over Yemen since March 2015, when the first aircraft of this type was shot down. Then the two pilots ejected safely, and they were rescued.
Two more aircraft in 2017 and 2018 were lost after exposure to air defense. In March 2018, an anti-aircraft missile hit the fighter, but he was able to reach the airfield.
Alexey Moiseev
