U.A.E.’s THAAD Destroys Houthi Ballistic Missile: Report

he U.A.E Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system destroyed a ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants last Monday, marking its first known use in a military operation.

The THAAD took out the midrange ballistic missile used to attack an Emirati oil facility near Al-Dhafra Air Base that hosts U.S. and French forces, Defense News reported citing its sources.

U.A.E.’s ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba said the Houthi attack in Abu Dhabi, which used cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones, killed three civilians and wounded six others.

Soon after the deadly attacks, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition comprising the U.A.E., Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan unleashed multiple airstrikes targeting Yemen, knocking the Arab world’s poorest country off the internet and killing over 80 people at a detention center.

On January 24, the U.A.E.’s defense ministry said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles, allegedly launched by Houthis. It is said to have launched 10 surface-to-air missiles including at least 3 MIM-104F Patriot missiles each costing about $50 million to shoot-down the two cheap hostile missiles. The missile fire disrupted traffic into Abu Dhabi International Airport for about an hour after the attack.

On Sunday, the coalition said a Houthi ballistic missile landed in an industrial area in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, slightly wounding a foreigner.