15seconds separated “F-16” pilots from death… An American magazine reveals Yemen’s superior missile capability
The American Air & Space Forces Magazine has revealed unprecedented Yemeni capabilities in confronting US warplanes, documenting the details of a precise missile ambush executed by Yemeni air defenses on March 27, 2025, that nearly killed the pilots of two “F-16” fighter jets.
Follow-ups – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:
In a detailed report, the magazine stated that only 15 seconds separated the crews of the two American aircraft between life and death during a nighttime combat mission over Yemeni airspace, where pilots William Parks and Michael Blia realized they had turned from hunters into prey within range of Yemeni surface-to-air missiles.
The magazine explained that the Yemeni forces executed a complex missile ambush with 6 surface-to-air missiles, targeting the two aircraft as they were retreating towards the Red Sea, noting that one of the missiles passed directly under the wing of an “F-16” aircraft, at such a close distance that the pilots heard its terrifying roar, in a moment described by one of the pilots as “still stuck in my mind.”
The Yemeni air defenses only gave the pilots between 15 to 20 seconds of warning indications before they found themselves under a hail of fire, prompting them to perform violent defensive maneuvers and deploy jamming and thermal decoy systems to save themselves.
The magazine pointed out that subsequent analyses revealed an advanced Yemeni tactic, represented by integrating radar-guided missiles with visual monitoring and the use of electro-optical and infrared sensors, which American sensors were unable to detect, confirming a qualitative development in Yemeni defensive capabilities.
In a related context, the magazine revealed that the military operation in Yemen was managed under an unfamiliar command structure, where General Michael Erik Kurilla transferred the management of air operations from the Air Forces Central Command to the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, in a precedent considered the first of its kind where an air campaign of this magnitude in the Middle East is managed by a special operations command.
These details, published for the first time by a specialized American military magazine, confirm Yemeni missile and defense capabilities, its ability to threaten the most powerful American warplanes, and its ability to impose a new deterrence equation in the face of the war on Yemen.