this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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Yemen’s Houthi armed group has shot down seven US Reaper drones worth more than $200m in recent weeks, marking the most significant material loss yet in Washington’s campaign against the fighters.

Three of the drones were lost in the past week alone, suggesting an improvement in the Houthis’ ability to strike high-altitude US aircraft.

The drones – each costing about $30m – were conducting surveillance or attack missions when they crashed into water or land.

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[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

These memes are evergreen, although $40k seems pretty low.

[–] Doorbook@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

If anyone have time they should check these mountains in Yemen, targeting anything in there is not easy.

Surprised how many people here saying this is nothing.. sure number compare to budget is nothing but at least they are fighting back against technological, air, sea, and space supremacy...

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 36 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

It costs $30m to build a drone and another $1-3m to actually send it to a war zone on the other side of the world. Then each mission involves firing a $150k piece of ordinance at targets that may or may not be a valid military target. All that so you can kill a few dozen Houthis, or perhaps the family or friends of those Houthis. Perhaps a parent or an infant child. And what are these people worth? Nothing.

The important thing to remember when doing all this back-of-the-envelop math is to always remember human life - particularly human life in a country as remote and foreign as Yemen - HAS. NO. VALUE. That's why we're gleefully obliterating it at every opportunity. We render their limbs from their bodies with some of the most technologically advanced killing machines in existence to prove once and for all that they are not people. They should not exist. They all must die.

Same with Palestine. A country of roughly 5M people, but the lives of these people are worthless. Same with Haiti. Same with Iraq and Afghanistan. Same with Somali and Sudan and Syria and Libya. They are expendable. They are disposable. They are, if anything, a tax on the well-being of the better, brighter, more noble, more fundamentally human population of English-speaking and Western-aligned peoples dedicated to sending us mineral resources at below the market clearing rate.

What we are buying with that $30m drone is a beautiful perfect world expunged of the evil rebellious creatures keeping us from all those wonderful minerals. And they have the fucking nerve to knock seven of our Wunderwaffe from the skies? This only further justifies the genocide.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Armed with $300 of temu armor and society era weapons. They're business monsters so maybe they should analyze that return on investment.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago

Well, this is all someone's profit at some point. Killing brown people is just a fringe benefit. Every rocket we fire and bomb we drop is ultimately counted as points on GDP and revenue for the DOW.

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 20 hours ago

Good critical support for one of the few people actually willing to do anything to stop an ongoing genocide and stand up to the world's bully.

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (4 children)

This is not a victory. America can only be defeated by sending home body bags, not bills.

Do they really think they can exhaust our will to spend money on weapons?

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 7 points 21 hours ago

I dunno, we also just get bored and angry when our national cock is publicly embarrassed for a long time. We didn't sour on Afghanistan because of too many deaths, we soured because it should have been over already and nothing we were doing seemed to be actually progressing toward a incontrovertible win. It was an ongoing demonstration of our limitations.

[–] pimento64@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For real, I was shocked it was as many as seven drones they shot down. I saw $200M and figured it meant two.

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh no they shot down 7 drones. And how many things did the houthies lose? By things I mean vehicles, small arms, buildings. And I mean by going back over several months.

[–] Doorbook@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

Last I check they lost their loved on who already dead in a cemetery...

[–] Joncash2@lemmy.ml 6 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

In a normal situation, no. But thanks to Czar Trump, USA has disassociated itself with its allies who used to help foot the bill with military purchases. This coupled with the idiotic trade war, the US might actually run out of money now. What was inconceivable just a month ago, maybe something we get to celebrate in the near future.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 3 hours ago

Lay off the copium, homie.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 6 points 23 hours ago

Do they really think they can exhaust our will to spend money on weapons?

Maybe? Maybe not? Either way when you see an enemy drone there's nothing better to do than shoot it down.

[–] whostosay@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Immediately thought "so three drones?" And was not far off at all.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago

This article says 7. Of which 3 this week.

The Houthis say 17-19. Which is telling the truth is a mystery.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 5 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Is $200m supposed to be a big number? That's like 0.02% of yearly military budget. They could lose that every day for a year and not even notice.

That's not how budgets work. . .

[–] perestroika@lemm.ee 3 points 19 hours ago

It's not a big number, but only 300 such drones exist, to my knowledge.

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Well done lads. An actual Rebel Alliance.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Unfortunately that is a laughably miniscule number compared to the DoD budget, and great news for the arms manufacturers they will pay to replace them. As the other commenter said you cannot stop the US war machine with bills, only with body bags.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 4 points 14 hours ago

The more money the dod pays on bombing farmers in Yemen the less money it has for other things.

Also that money could have paid the salary of about 3.000 teachers for a year. The US being willing to spend in such a stupid way does not remove from it being unsustainable for society as a whole. Will it bring the US down by itself? No. Will it be one of the many cuts that is bleeding the US dry eventually? Yes.

[–] Ilixtze@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I am getting some news that Israel was struck by a Hypersonic missile or was it some fake or overblown news? In anyways, full support for these freedom fighters!

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Israel has been hit by a few Yemeni missiles which landed at random places. Most were downed though a few debris pieces also hit.

Intercepting the missiles is more expensive than shooting them and Yemen keeps doing it at night to wake up all the Israelis with sirens.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 3 points 23 hours ago

Intercepting the missiles is more expensive than shooting them and Yemen keeps doing it at night to wake up all the Israelis with sirens.

I have no love for the Houthis but wow, fucking respect.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If by hypersonic missile they mean ‘the standard ballistic missiles everyone has had since the 60s’ then, sure.

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

So many claim to have a hypersonic missile. They pretty much are full of shit.

[–] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io -4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Good, wreck it all. Kill some service members while you're at it.

[–] pimento64@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

t. somebody who totally isn't a psycho

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It isn't psychotic to want imperialist war mongering enforces dead and unable to harm anyone else.

[–] pimento64@sopuli.xyz -3 points 17 hours ago

"Why isn't my horse pushing the cart"

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 points 23 hours ago

Maybe Americans will actually do something about the American government's mass murder campaign in Yemen when their soldiers start coming back in body bags.