A photo of a crashed Houthi drone raises some questions about the role of the Houthi drone program and also Iran’s role in providing technology for UAVs to the Houthis and Hezbollah.
The drone is often called “Rased (راصد).” There are some details about it. It is one of several recon drones the Houthis use along with the “Hudhud”, “Hudhud 1”, “Raqib” and “Rased.” It is believed to be 100 cm long with a wing length of 220 cm, endurance of 120 minutes, range 35 km. See details here and here. It is considered one of the smallest Houthi drones. Details about it date back several years to 2018. Al-Masdar online noted in January 2020 “The aircraft resembles the Houthi “Rased” drone, which is virtually identical to the Chinese-made Skywalker X-8 hobbyist plane.” Other websites note ” Rased UAV can perform various missions, including aerial monitoring and observation of the battlefield.” It is called ‘Onlooker‘ in English.
It also appears in various images from the Houthis and others regarding one of their many drones.
It appears similar to a Hezbollah drone downed over Israel in March 2020. This would make sense because Iran has proliferated aspects of other drones from its Ababil and Mohajer lines to Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. The Hezbollah version may also just be a copy or have some similarities but not others.
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