Indigenous Yemeni drones pose a challenge for UAE
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Yemen, overcoming a blockade that pushed tens of thousands to the brink of starvation, has proved to be a security headache for the UAE and other member states to the Saudi-led coalition of aggression.
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Yemeni Qasef 2K drones locally-made drone (Yemeni Military Media archive)
Yemen, a country under blockade from a Saudi-led, UAE-backed coalition that has been waging war on the nation for seven years now, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, has been proving to be a security headache for the UAE through its homemade drones and other military capabilities.
Despite a suffocating blockade that prevented the entry of basic goods and humanitarian aid, killing tens of thousands of Yemenis over the years, many of which are children, the Sanaa government forces have overcome the Arab-Western injustice they are enduring and developed their own capabilities to resist aggression.
The Yemeni Armed Forces do not have access to much high-tech equipment, but nonetheless, they have capabilities that the Gulf monarchies fear, sparking security concerns in these wealthy countries and "Israel" alike if Yemen manages to liberate itself from their historic hegemony.
The weapons they have are cheap and low-end, as they use over-the-counter parts amid no access to high-end defense equipment for further development, and nevertheless, they have caused sleepless nights for the attacking coalition.
Massacre after massacre pushed the Yemenis to seek to accumulate force in order to deter further aggression against their country.
Read: Saree: Operation Yemen Hurricane is in response to continued aggression
A large number of ballistic missiles and drones targeted sites in Abu Dhabi and southern Saudi Arabia, with two missiles launched at the UAE.
The coalition had committed several massacres in Yemen, including one in Sanaa, another in Saada, and a third in Al-Hudaydah.
Debris from the missiles fell near Abu Dhabi, where three people were killed last week in a drone-and-missile attack claimed by the Yemeni Armed Forces.
In seven years of war on Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition killed thousands upon thousands of civilians, while this attack lead to the death of three.
Western and Gulf media rushed to condemn the attack that came in response to years-long aggression and turned a blind eye to the thousands of people killed and the thousands of others on the brink of famine and death.
Despite not having access to high-end equipment, Sanaa has its Samad-3 drones, which have a range of about 1,500 km, analysts and the Sanaa government forces have said.
"The Emiratis and Saudis are finding it difficult to fend off these attacks," said James Rogers, an associate fellow at the London School of Economics.
The Yemeni Armed Forces' capabilities have no obstacle, as their advanced combat tactics have propelled them forward in the face of their much more capable enemies.
Rogers said they have been using attack drones and medium-range missiles "at low altitude and low speed so they are hard for conventional radar to detect," meaning they are bypassing the highly-developed radars and anti-missile systems in spite of their low-end equipment.
The Samad-3 is Sanaa's most advanced drone; it can be fitted with 18 kilograms of explosives, Yemeni media and experts have said.
It uses GPS guidance and "fly autonomously along with pre-programmed waypoints" toward their targets, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) experts wrote in a 2020 report.
The UAE had signed a multi-billion deal for Lockheed Martin's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAD) anti-missile system, and just last week, Abu Dhabi signed a staggering $3.5 billion missile defense contract with a South Korean firm last week, and despite their over-the-top wealth, the UAE is still struggling to fend off Yemeni resistance.
Saudi Arabia on the other hand possesses the US-made Patriot missile defense system. The kingdom possesses 80 standalone air defense radars that did not shield them from the Yemeni-induced panic.
Yemen has been bearing the brunt of the Saudi-UAE aspirations to dominion in the region, and it is standing in the face of these aspirations that undermine Yemeni sovereignty, and for that Sanaa is demonized.
The West does not see the Yemeni acts as ones of resistance in the face of aggressors and oppressors, but they, in fact, reflect the Yemeni people overcoming their blockade-induced humanitarian crisis and maltreatment to resist those pointing a gun at them.
