Yemen Crisis/Conflict & the "Decisive Storm" Coalition

Yemeni forces down Saudi Apache helicopter

JayBird said:

Oh my god... this one cooked up like the T-72 hits we've seen many times in the past, are the Saudi Abrams also monkey export version? They must've hit the perfect spot and penetrated the tank ammo storage area.

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The Saudis use a export version of the M1A1 MBT that lacks the DU mesh found in the same model used by US forces. Even if it had it I doubt that this would look all that different. Watching the video it looks impressive but what we see is not necessarily the death of the tank. The impact I believe hit the Abrams turret bustle which is a module mounted to the rear of the turret storing the ammo. Between the bustle and the fighting compartment is a guillotine style fire door. With ammo stored away from the compartment and the door closed it is designed to channel to a cook off explosion up and out of the tank through blow out panels. What we see in the video is fire flame and debris erupt out the top of the tank.
This differs from the concerns about ammo in Russian tanks where if its ammo cooked off the turret would be the blowout panel.
Because we do not see a close up or after action examination of the tank we cannot be assured that this is a true kill. A mission kill for sure but if the crew lived or died can not be determined.

Now we track back to the Bradley IFV and the BMP3 and we see the effects of a ATGM on a lighter weight vehicles. The Saudis I do not believe modified there Bradleys' to A2 or A3 armor packages making them thinner skinned then current American issue. The BMP3 shows that frankly any IFV of similar weight class would have fared little better.

From Marine Forum Daily News:

27 August

YEMEN
For the first time since conflict began in March, Saudi-Arabian troops have crossed the border into Northern Yemen.

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Yemenis in combat in (and around) Al Dhabab, Taiz province


Back to bottling my Grenache

UAE 45 soldiers dead after the attack with a ballistic missile in Yemen


(Defensa.com) This Friday saw the launch of a Russian-made missile Tochka by the Yemeni army against an ammunition dump guarded by soldiers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), resulting in the death of 45 of them. The deposit was in the Yemeni Maarib region and although it was initially reported the deaths of 22 soldiers UAE, it has finally confirmed the death of 45 because of the explosion.

The weapon used against the munitions is a short-range ballistic missile OTR-21 Tochka (NATO code SS-21 Scarab), equipped with inertial guidance and a range of up to 120 kilometers depending on the version. This type of weapon is in service in the Yemeni army and has been previously employed in this campaign, in late August one was launched against Saudi naval base Yizzan.

In March he started an international operation of Gulf countries led by Saudi Arabia, who is acting in Yemen to "restore the legitimacy" of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against the rise of the houties supporting former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Link:


Back to bottling my Grenache

I found a video which purports to show a Tank Battle between Coalition and Houthis in Yemen lately:
but I don't even know who is who LOL
would anybody comment?

Based on the equipment it looks like what is being filmed is Saudi Coalition advance.

ASTROS II Rockets used in Yemen