SANAA, July 11 (Saba) – The Yemeni Defense Ministry has developed a series of locally-made ballistic missiles since 2015, using them in defending the country against the US-backed Saudi-led military aggression coalition.
There are three types of ballistic missiles developed since then, including short-range, medium-range and long-range missiles.
The medium-range ballistic missile was developed from a SAM-2, which has a range of 400-km and carrying 350-kg warhead with a high accuracy of 5 to 10 meters, and was developed by the military research and development center of the Yemeni missile force.
On March 28, 2017, the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees revealed a new type of medium-range ballistic missiles after a series of successful tests.
In 2017, the rocketry force said that three Qaher-M2 ballistic missiles hit accurately three military targets inside Saudi King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushayt city in Asir border region.
On April 12, 2017, the army and Popular Committees launched a second type of ballistic missile against the invasion forces in the west of the country.
The Yemeni missile force also fired a locally developed ballistic missile, Borkan-2, in February last year and fired on a Saudi military base west of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
On March 18, 2017, the missile force fired a ballistic missile, Borkan-2, on King Salman Air Base in Riyadh, which coincided with the return of Saudi king Salman after he visited several countries.
The Yemeni military and the Popular Committees continued their military operations as part of the strategy of deterrence.
The Yemeni missile force of the army and Popular Committees also targeted the oil giant Saudi Aramco company and the power station in Jizan region.
The Yemeni army also hit military targets in Riyadh and beyond Riyadh, targeting oil refineries in Yanbu province, west of Saudi Arabia.
According to military sources, the UAE is increasingly worried about the arrival of Yemeni missiles to a wider range after the bombing of Taif and Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia, which means the possibility of reaching the UAE territory within the Yemeni missile range.
The rapid development in the Yemeni missile capabilities was born on March 2015, when US-backed Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates intervened in the Yemeni internal political affairs.
"We praise the successful advance of military capabilities," martyr President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad told tens of thousands of supporters during anti-aggression mass rally in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
"If they want peace, as we have said to them before, stop your air strikes and we will stop our missiles," president al-Sammad said. "If you continue your air strikes, we have a right to defend ourselves by all means available."
The Yemeni army spokesman Brigadier Sharaf Luqman said "economic facilities belonging to the coalition states are within our missile reach and are considered military targets so long as the blockade and aggression against Yemen continue."
He said the forces of aggression (Washington, Riyadh and Dubai) are very aware of Yemen’s increased military deterrent.
The coalition attack on Yemen has created the world's most humanitarian catastrophe, according to the United Nations humanitarian agencies, adding that the coalition's goals in Yemen have completely backfired.
The Saudi-led aggression coalition intervened in Yemen to roll back gains of the revolutionary movement, Ansarullah, also known as Houthis, and to reinstate their puppet government.
In the past three years, Ansarullah movement has improved its military capabilities, as well as it strengthened its grip on the power through a widespread public support.
In 2017, when the army fired missiles at Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition responded by shutting Yemen’s airports and ports. The United Nations said the imposed blockade would cause mass starvation. The coalition then eased it partially.
The coalition have launched thousands of air strikes on Yemen, some of which have hit hospitals, schools and markets, killing thousands of civilians, but have brought the coalition closer to military failure.
Developing long-range ballistic missile:
"Our rockets will reach places that the enemy will not expect,” Ansarullah spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said. “The longer the aggression and war continue, the greater our ballistic missile capabilities."
Saudi Arabia has tightened its blockade on Yemen following the missile attack on Riyadh last year, ordering the closure of all air, sea and land ports, in a move exacerbating an already devastating humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
On June 1, the Yemeni army spokesman Luqman warned that "Abu Dhabi is now is within our missile range."
Few days later, the Yemeni army fired a long-range ballistic missile towards UAE in retaliation for the Red Sea coast offensive led by Saudi and Emirites occupation forces.
The Yemeni ballistic missile, Burkan 2, has a range of roughly 1000 kilometers, 350 kilometers short of reaching Abu Dhabi.
On June 3, the army's missile force unveiled underground ballistic missile arsenal that cannot be intercepted by US anti-missile weapons.
"This comes within the framework of developing the missile capabilities and raising their effectiveness in the field", the missile force said in a statement obtained by Saba news agency.
Mona Zaid/Zak
SABA