(Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM)
The Sixth MQ-9 Reaper is down in Yemen; the third this month. Online images show the MQ-9 on its belly in the desert, its tail disconnected from the rest of its body; grotesque. The shooters are the Houthis – asymmetric pygmies. MQ-9 Reaper developed by General Atomics Aeronautical System of the USA is a High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAV – used for High Altitude Surveillance and Strike missions – continuous surveillance of over 36 hours at altitudes of over 40,000 feet. Under a $3 billion deal, India is buying 31 MQ – 9 Reapers from the USA; and I thought drones were cheap! Is’nt that a part of ‘Lessons Learnt’ from the Ukraine war? One very aggressive person on Twitter (whatever it is called these days) advised me that foot soldiers are very expensive (pay plus pension), India must just buy many drones instead! When I tried to reason out with him, he told me off saying – you know nothing, all we need are the Turkish Drones and we can do away with half the Indian Army – I decided to call it a day, switch on the AC and sleep it over before the routine summer power cut. Political Leaders and Military Commanders sitting on huge arsenals and commanding large forces tend to laugh away ‘Asymmetric Warfare’; Napoleonic dictum that “God is on the side of bigger battalions” is stuck to their psyche and keeps them in awe of themselves…………till the Houthis decide to wake them up. Incidentally a new F-35B also crashed today in New Mexico, USA. F-35s are reported to cost up to $135 million each. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis reportedly launched attacks at six ships during the week in three different seas, one, a bulk carrier Laax off the coast of Yemen. Two, the Morea and Sealady in the Red Sea. Two, the Alba and Maersk Hartford in the Arabian Sea and one, Minvera Antonia in the Mediterranean; pygmy or a superman? The Houthis, describe their attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza. The Houthis – most of whom are Zaidi Shias in Sunni-majority Yemen represent only around 15% of the Yemenis. Yet they consider themselves the rightful rulers. Since they seized power, the Houthis continue to hold most of North Yemen, where more than half of Yemen’s population live. In a Sunni dominant country, the success of a relatively minor group (the Houthis) is quite unique. While the Houthis are often associated with Iran due to their alignment, analysts caution against viewing them solely as an Iranian proxy. They have their own base, interests, and ambitions. And surprisingly they are showing off their might from Yemen, the poorest region of the world. The numbers of their armed fighters is between 100,000 to 200,000!!! They are so small that they are not even accounted for in the listing of sectarian and ethnic forces like Hezbollah, Iraqi Shi’ite and Sunni PMFs, Sunni Arab rebel groups in Syria, and various Kurdish Forces. Asymmetric warfare is …… believe it or not …… a pivotal aspect of modern military engagements. It may be a weapon of the weak, but it is here to stay. It challenges military philosophies and policies – the traditional ‘Art of War’. In Yemen, over 17 million people face food insecurity, 3.5 million experiencing severe malnutrition approximately 18 million lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation – they wouldn’t care whether they die of hunger or war. It is not like the rich nations that have to enforce conscription, here there is no dearth of volunteers. They do not need to be educated about nationalism and patriotism; they just don’t care; death does not scare them. The solution to Asymmetric Warfare therefore perhaps lies in, wise political strategies – This, sadly most modern day ‘Hubristic Leaders’ do not understand. Stand by and count more MQ-9s biting the dust.