96 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
he Ansar Allah rebel
group – also known as
the Houthis – took control
of the Yemeni capital Sana’a in
September 2014. Prime Minister
Mohammed Basindawa resigned
and the Houthis signed a deal
with an alliance of other political
parties to establish a new, unity
government. On March 26, 2015,
in response to an appeal from
President Abdrabbuh Mansour
Hadi, whose government the
rebels had deposed, Saudi
Arabia launched a military
intervention in Yemen. This was
undertaken by a coalition of
nine Gulf and Arab states and
involved air strikes and an aerial
and naval blockade of Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition for
Operation Decisive Storm
included around 100 Royal Saudi
Air Force (RSAF) aircraft including
F-15S, Tornado IDS and Typhoon
jets supported by A330 tankers
and Cougar combat search and
rescue helicopters. The Typhoon
and F-15S were equipped with
Damocles and DB-110 targeting
and reconnaissance pods
respectively, and carried various
Paveway and Joint Direct Attack
Munition (JDAM) bombs. RSAF
support platforms included E-3As
and Saab 2000 Erieye airborne
early warning and control aircraft.
As the second-largest
contributor the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) provided 30
aircraft, including F-16E/Fs,
Mirage 2000s, and at least
one A330 tanker. The other
aircraft comprised 15 F/A-18Cs
from Kuwait, ten Mirage 2000s
from Qatar, F-16s operated
by Bahrain (15), Egypt, Jordan
(six) and Morocco (six), and
three Sudanese Su-24Ms.
Saudi Arabia’s main objective
was to restore the Hadi
government-in-exile to power
in Sana’a; this demand was
reinforced under United Nations
Security Council Resolution 2216
adopted three weeks after the
beginning of Decisive Storm.
Saudi Arabia had two other
motivations for its intervention.
First was the destruction of the
threat posed to the Kingdom by
Yemen’s ballistic missiles, which
had fallen into the hands of the
Houthi alliance. The second
aim was to prevent the Houthis’
suspected state-sponsor, Iran,from gaining a strategic foothold
on the Arabian Peninsula.Decisive Storm
The first weeks of the campaign
neutralised the Yemeni Air Force,
notably the shelters believed
to house its MiG-29s. Before
Decisive Storm, Yemen had fewer
than 20 MiG-29s; most were
stored at al-Dailami air base
(alongside Sana’a International
Airport), with a detachment at
al-Anad. The Fulcrums’ current
fate is uncertain. Air defence
systems were also destroyed,
including surface-to-air missile
(SAM) batteries and associated
radars around Sana’a and
al-Dailami, and, most importantly,
tactical and ballistic missile forces.
The first coalition loss was
an RSAF F-15S that suffered
technical problems over the
Gulf of Aden on the second
day of the campaign, March- The crew ejected safely and
was rescued by a US Air Force
HH-60G operating from Djibouti.
On April 21, four weeks and
more than 2,300 strike sorties
after the beginning of the aerial
campaign, Decisive Storm
ended, and Operation Restore
Hope began. The bombing
appears to have reduced
Houthi movement and resupply
by attacking highways and
bridges, driving rebel forces
from the roads and inhibiting
the redeployment of combat
elements between urban centres.
The air campaign continued
during Restore Hope with strikes
against military bases. Al-Dailami
was targeted again in early May.
Six fighters (one MiG-29, two
F-5s, three Su-22s, all probably
non-airworthy), one Mi-8 and
two Il-76TDs were destroyed.
Between May and July, the Saudi
led-coalition lost three more
Air war in Yemen
Saudi Arabia’s controversial operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen have involved a coalition
of Gulf and Arab air arms. Arnaud Delalande provides an air power assessment.T
FLASHPOINT