RSS Feed
June 8th, 2015 
David Schulberg 
The firing was noteworthy as the first use of Yemen’s Scud arsenal in the current war. Yet analysts note that the aging arsenal is unlikely to do much, if any damage to Saudi Arabia, and certainly poses no threat to its ongoing war against its southern neighbor.
Most of Yemen’s missiles are believed to be R-17’s acquired in the late 1970s. The nation is also believed to have acquired an unknown number of North Korean Hwasong missiles, a copy created in the early 1990s. Overall their pre-war arsenal was believed to be around 300 missiles total.
Yet months of Saudi airstrikes have centered on Yemeni missile depots, causing massive damage to several sites and setting off explosions that killed hundreds of civilians. It’s unclear, then, how many of the missiles have even survived to this point.
Even then, the Scuds represent an outdated form of missile, and historically an extremely inaccurate one. While downing them with Patriot missiles is a costly solution for the Saudis, the ability for them to do so underscores how unlikely it is for any of these weapons to get through and hit anything meaningful to the war effort.
Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz
- 45 Killed, Including 20 Civilians, as Saudis Attack Yemeni Capital – June 7th, 2015
- White House Backs Israeli Attacks on Gaza Strip – June 7th, 2015
- Israeli Commander: We Won’t Start New Gaza War Over a Few Rockets – June 7th, 2015
- Hamas Warns Israel: ISIS Trying to Spark Fighting Between Us – June 5th, 2015
- Iraqi Attempt to Retake Ramadi Stalls Well Outside of City – June 5th, 2015
Source Article from http://news.antiwar.com/2015/06/07/houthis-scud-missiles-no-real-threat-to-saudi-war-machine/
Views: 0
Posted in 
