Saudi Arabia said it shot down a ballistic missile, fired by Yemeni rebels, southwest of the capital Riyadh late Friday, ahead of US President Donald Trump's arrival in the Sunni-led kingdom.
Air defence units "intercepted a ballistic missile that was launched by Huthi militias", and it fell over an unpopulated area 180 kilometres from Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement.
Trump, whose country provides weapons, intelligence and aerial refuelling for the coalition, is due to arrive on Saturday for two days of summits with Saudi, Gulf and Muslim leaders.
The missile would be the longest range attempted by the Huthi rebels and their allies, former members of Yemen's security forces linked to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, since they began retaliatory attacks against the kingdom two years ago.
Occasional ballistic missile attacks, as well as more frequent short-range rocket fire over the southern border, have been conducted after coalition air strikes against the rebels in Yemen.
The coalition intervened in Yemen more than two years ago to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Huthi-run Al-Masirah television said on its Twitter account that the rebels' "rocket forces launched a Volcano-2 (Borkan) ballistic missile on the capital of Saudi Arabia".
This coincided with coalition air strikes against the rebel-held capital Sanaa, other tweets from Al-Masirah said.
Riyadh and Washington accuse Iran of supplying weapons to the Huthis but a United Nations Panel of Experts in January reported that it "has not seen sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms" from Iran, Riyadh's regional rival.
Huthis claim to have locally-developed the Borkan missile, but the UN panel said the rebels have "initiated a propaganda campaign claiming the use of locally manufactured, as opposed to improvised, missiles."
It said they have, however, fired Scud-variant short-range ballistic missiles and free-flight rockets.
Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missiles to counter such attacks.
In October the rebels launched one of their longest-range strikes against Saudi Arabia, firing a ballistic missile that was brought down near the holy Muslim city of Mecca, an attack condemned by Riyadh's Gulf allies.
The rebels insisted that the missile had been fired at Jeddah, the Red Sea city in the sprawling Mecca region, not at the holy city itself.
Washington DC (UPI) May 16, 2017
Lockheed Martin received a $25.4 million contract modification for foreign military sales to Qatar, the Department of Defense reported Monday. The award goes toward the Phased Array Tracking Radar on Target, or Patriot, surface-to-air missile system. The variants being worked on include the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, or PAC-3, and and Missile Enhancement Aft Block I redesign. The wo ... read more
Related Links
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
| Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution. |
||
| SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Oncecredit card or paypal |
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthlypaypal only |
|
from Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense http://ift.tt/2qH65X4
via space News
No comments: