Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed that on Thursday that the group’s fighters have shot down a CH-4B armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Royal Saudi Air Force.
According to a statement issued by the Houthi’s media on 30 August, Saudi CH-4B armed UAV was shot down near Tuwal border crossing.
In a Twitter post, the unofficial Yemen Observer released a photograph that shows the wreckage of downed Saudi CH-4B armed drone near Tuwal.
The CH-4B is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). It is equipped with a semi-retractable electro-optic turret and synthetic aperture radar/ Also, the CH-4B has four underwing pylons, able to mount up to 345kg of stores.
Chinese-made armed UAV can carry up to 770 pounds of munitions, including the AR-1 laser-guided air-to-surface missile, TG-100 laser, inertial or FT-9 50kg GPS-guided bomb, and the HJ-10 anti-tank missile. It is specifically designed for high-altitude missions over land and sea and can fire its weapon from up to 5,000 meters.
According to the GlobalSecurity.org, the CH-4 is built by state-owned aircraft manufacturer China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and closely resembles the U.S.-made General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ MQ-9 Reaper drone.
