Yemen’s Houthis are claiming to have shot down a Saudi Arabian F-15 (SA) fighter jet, using locally made weapons. If true, this would be the fifth F-15 shot down this year, in the ongoing Middle East conflict.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah’s aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations in support of its military mobilizations in the airspace of Marib province,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.
He said the jet had been targeted “using a locally made air-to-air missile”.
The spokesman also rejected Saudi claims that the Houthis had targeted the holy city of Mecca this week. “Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites,” he said.
Earlier, the US lost 4 F-15 Strike Eagles in the Middle East conflict, with three jets going down in friendly fire while the fourth one was shot down by the Iranian military. The US military rescued both the pilot and the co-pilot.
Earlier on December 7 (last year), the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that an F-15 fighter jet of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) crashed, killing the two crew members on board.
Saudi Arabia’s airspace on Dec. 10. 2020. (via Twitter)
As per details published by the Ministry, the aircraft was on a training mission when the tragedy struck. Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, the Ministry’s spokesman, said the F-15 fighter jet accident occurred at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran during a regular training flight.
The F-15SA is a two-seat variant of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter jet, which forms the backbone of the kingdom’s fighter fleet. The F-15SA is derived from the two-seat F-15E Strike Eagle. It is said to be the most sophisticated F-15 version, combining elements from Singapore’s F-15SG and South Korea’s F-15K Slam Eagle.
This was the kingdom’s second F-15 crash in 2025. A Saudi F-15SA fighter jet crashed during a training exercise in July last year, killing all the crew on board. The accident occurred near King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, about 815 kilometers southwest of the capital, Riyadh.
Earlier, a Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) F-15S air superiority fighter crashed at the King Abdulaziz Air Base training grounds due to a technical malfunction during a routine night-time exercise in November 2022. The aircraft crew, comprising two officers, safely ejected, and there were no injuries or losses on the ground.
Besides Saudi Arabia, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) are the other two operators of the Strike Eagle in the region.
With AFP Inputs
