Missile duel in the desert
Intervention by the Saudi coalition to Yemen led perhaps to the largest rocket confrontation in the desert since the 1991 Gulf War. The launches of tactical missiles became one of the symbols of the war in Yemen.
Even before the events of 2015, Yemen had a significant arsenal of operational and tactical ballistic missiles. Even during the civil war of the 90s, the sides used the Soviet 9K72 missile systems (in the world more commonly known as SCUD) and 9K79 ("Tochka").
In the 1990s and before the early 2000s, the country also widely imported North Korean ballistic missiles from the same SCUD family. Pyongyang also provided assistance in the organization of missile services and the necessary training of local personnel. But under US pressure since 2003, the parties' cooperation was terminated.
Yemen purchased missiles for its complexes "Elbrus" in the DPRK. The standard "Shahab-2" (copies of Hwaseon-6) has a range of 500 km with a BC weight of 747 kg. Moreover, even one reduction in the mass of the warhead by one-third, the maximum range of the missile was increased to 800 km.
Before the outbreak of the civil war, the Yemeni army had three missile brigades, armed with missiles of the complexes 9K52 Luna-M, 9K72 Elbrus and 9K79 Tochka.
Already in the course of the conflict, a new alteration of all the same "Hwaseon-6" was presented, but already under the name "Burkan-2" it was just a test with a combat launch, which was announced on February 6, 2017.
The Saudi coalition from the outset understood the threat posed by the operational-tactical missile systems in the armed forces of Yemen. Already at the first stage of the intervention, code-named the "Resistance Storm", attempts were made to destroy the warehouses on which the missile stock was kept, as well as the mobile missile systems of the Yemeni army. In April 2015, the command of the coalition reported on the complete elimination of the missile threat from the hussites. However, these rumors were greatly exaggerated.
Already on May 25, the first strike was struck at the Saudi base on Khamis Mushait, according to unconfirmed reports, the Saudi army lost several aircraft. In the future, rocket attacks on objects in Saudi Arabia have become an integral part of this conflict.
Even before the conflict began in the border areas of Saudi Arabia, anti-aircraft defense complexes "Patriot" were deployed. On June 6, 2015, the leadership of the KSA pathetically stated about the interception of the Yemeni missile over the same Hami Mushait. However, in fact, on this day, 12 Scud missiles were fired, of which only three were intercepted by Saudi air defense. The statement about the interception of most missiles was a propaganda lie for the Saudi population, which psychologically turned out to be unprepared for strikes on its territory. In fact, even the American calculations of the Patriot missile system during the Gulf War intercepted no more than 50 percent of Iraq's Scuds. The effectiveness of the launches of poorly prepared Saudis did not exceed 25 percent. Due to the improved range of missile destruction to the detriment of their accuracy, a large part of the missiles, released by Yemenis fell in the desert, without causing damage to the enemy, but the psychological effect of missile attacks on the territory of Saudi Arabia, counting on a quick and anemic victory was huge. Along with the "Scuds" husits used and missiles "Tochka-U", which have a higher accuracy of defeat. Rocket rain fell on the territory of Saudi Arabia.
The apotheosis of missile attacks was the hit of the "Tochka-U" rocket into the base camp of interventionists and collaborators in the Yemen province of Marib on September 4, 2015. As a result of the attack, over one hundred interveners and collaborators of the collaborator Hadi were killed. Among the dead were 55 soldiers of the United Arab Emirates, which caused a shock among the population of one of the key aggressor countries. The rocket attacks of the hussites continued with enviable permanence. So, on December 14, 2015, the commander of the special operations forces of the KSA was destroyed by a missile attack on Saudi positions. In January 2016, as a result of another missile strike at the Al-Anad base, the coalition control center for unmanned aircraft in Yemen was destroyed.
During the year 2016, the hussites continued to shell the territory of Saudi Arabia with enviable regularity. In response to the bombardment of the Air Force coalition with frenzied activity launched a hunt for mobile launchers husitov. However, the effectiveness of air hunting was extremely low. Khusit masterfully used the tactics of "Beat and run". Immediately after the start-up, the units immediately changed their positions, which ensured the extremely low effectiveness of the air strikes of the coalition. On the contrary, often successful launches of missiles at the coalition facilities both in the territory of Yemen and directly in the CC led to dozens of dead servicemen.
The new 2017 added to the problems of the Saudi coalition. So, on February 6, the areas surrounding the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, were subjected to a missile attack. This event caused a stir in several world media. The inhabitants of the capital of interventionists ceased to feel safe.
On March 17 and 20, 2017, Saudi Arabia's air defense forces announced the interception of a ballistic missile heading toward the city of Jizan, which is located in the south of the country, and also reported the interception of 4 ballistic missiles launched by the Khusites towards the Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait and Abha on March 28, 2017. 22 July 2017 Husits published a video of the launch of the Burkan-2 (or Vulcan-2) ballistic missile at the Saudi refinery in the city of Yanbu. It was reported that this missile flew about 930 kilometers, which is the longest distance that the Khusit rockets overcame. The Khusites said that the missile struck an oil refinery in the city of Yanbu, however, representatives of Saudi Arabia stated that after a fire that occurred at the power transformer located at the entrance to the refinery, SAMREF continued its normal operation.
On October 29, the hussites announced their readiness to attack targets on the territory of the UAE. The Emirate leadership responded to these statements with a grin. As it turned out in vain.
A real shock among the inhabitants of the KSA and the world public caused the launch of a missile at the airport of Riyadh, which occurred on November 4. Yes, the missile was intercepted by Saudi air defense, but the very fact of a missile strike terrified the population of Saudi Arabia. Counting on unpunished hunting for "wild Yemenis" the Saudis themselves were under attack.
On December 3, the Yemeni husits launched a cruise missile in the direction of Barak station under construction, located in Abu Dhabi, the UAE.
This cruise missile was identified as a Sumar class missile - the Iranian version of the Soviet cruise missile Kh-55. With a range of 2.5 thousand kilometers, the X-55 missiles are equipped with guidance systems that allow them to maintain a flight altitude of less than 110 from the ground level, thus avoiding radar detection.
Местные источники в Йемене подтвердили то, что крылатая ракета не достигла цели, потерпев крушение в расположенной на севере Йемена провинции Эль-Джауф.
По опубликованной в твиттере информации эмиратского государственного новостного агентства WAM, ОАЭ уточнили то, что обладают системами ПВО, способными ликвидировать любую угрозу любого типа или происхождения, добавив также то, что АЭС в Абу Даби была хорошо защищена. Причины крушения неизвестны, однако, ими мог стать отказ техники.
Ракетные атаки на столицу КСА, а также на территорию ОАЭ вызвали шквал обвинений в адрес Ирана, поддерживающего хуситов в Йемене. Однако по сей день, документальных подтверждений иранской помощи хуситам получено не было. Как говорится
#ИхТамНет
В целом, применение ОТРК хуситами и союзных им подразделений армии Йемена сыграли важную роль в ходе конфликта.Несмотря на малый урон, причиненный ракетный ударами КСА, моральный эффект от ракетных йеменских ударов не позволил интервентам чувствовать свою территорию защищенной.Блестящей бесконтактной войны не получилось. Население КСА и ОАЭ стало задумываться о целесообразности йеменской интервенции.
