Footage verified by the BBC shows the wreckage of a Saudi F-15 fighter jet which the Iran-backed Houthi group says it shot down over Yemen.
The US-made aircraft was “downed using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile” as it “conducted hostile operations” over the Marib region, according to a Houthi statement on Wednesday.
Experts have told BBC Verify the incident is a “propaganda coup” that shows the Houthis’ military capability has advanced and they are prepared to further escalate its conflict with Saudi Arabia.
Using satellite imagery to match features in the landscape seen in the footage, BBC Verify was able to pinpoint the crash site to an isolated location in the hills west of the Yemeni city of Marib.
This led to the Houthis seizing key territory near the south-west coast, close to vital international shipping channels in the Bab al-Mandab strait.
In one of several video clips released by the Houthis, men with assault rifles can be seen at the crash site inspecting the wreckage. The fighters celebrate as they lift the jet’s almost-intact tail fin which features the Saudi flag and a four-digit serial number.
The fate of of the crew is not known.
The Houthis also released a thermal video clip – which cannot be fully verified due to a lack of visual details – that appears to show a fighter jet in mid-flight being struck by a missile.
BBC Verify has contacted the Saudi Ministry of Defence for comment.
Baraa Shiban, Yemen analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, told BBC Verify the incident showed it was “very clear the Houthis have been taking advantage of advice and technological support” from Iran.
“They continue to develop their military arsenal and capabilities to make it more and more painful on Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Downing the F-15 is also a “propaganda coup”, said Yemen expert Adam Baron from the Washington-based New America think tank, as Saudi air support is considered to be “key to any significant pushback” against recent Houthi gains.
“An eye-for-an-eye has been a huge element of the group’s public messaging. This is partially to show that air support will come at a price,” he added.
BBC Verify used the position of the sun and satellite imagery to locate the distinctive landscape seen in the footage – including cliff faces and hills – to an isolated mountainous area about 25 miles (40km) west of Marib.
Satellite imagery published on Wednesday also shows a new dark shadow at the same location, which appears consistent with scorch or burn marks at a crash site.
The aircraft in the wreckage has been independently identified by Nick Brown, a weapons expert from military intelligence company Janes, as an F-15 Strike Eagle. He based his analysis on distinctive elements seen in the footage including the tail fin arrangement, radar antenna and missile warning system sensors.
AFP via Getty ImagesThe four-digit tail number visible on the wreckage also appears to be consistent with that of an F-15 Strike Eagle operated by the 55th Squadron of the Royal Saudi Air Force based at King Khalid Air Base near the city of Khamis Mushait in south-west Saudi Arabia.
This base, about 245 miles (392 km) from the crash site, was targeted last week by what the Houthis described as a “barrage of missiles and drones”. Satellite imagery analysed by BBC Verify appears to show damage to at least three aircraft hangars or shelters.
The base is one of a series of high-profile Saudi targets struck by the Houthis in recent days including an oil refinery in the city of Jizan.
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had destroyed a Houthi drone close to the Islamic holy city of Mecca on Tuesday, which the Houthis have denied targeting.
The group said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia had launched 40 air strikes against Yemen over the past 24 hours.
Additional reporting by Shayan Sardarizadeh and Alex Murray
Graphics by Tom Shiel
