Direct proof of use
The MQ-9 Reaper is directly documented in the 2023 Red Sea Crisis through U.S. and defense-reporting accounts of aircraft operating over the Red Sea and off Yemen. On November 8, 2023, USNI News reported that Houthi forces shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper off the coast of Yemen over the Red Sea, citing a defense official; the next day, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the Houthis had shot down the MQ-9 off Yemen and that it landed in the Red Sea.
A second confirmed Red Sea loss followed on February 19, 2024. In a February 20 Pentagon briefing, Singh said a U.S. MQ-9 had gone down off the coast of Houthi-controlled Yemen in the Red Sea and that initial indications pointed to a Houthi surface-to-air missile. She did not confirm whether the aircraft was armed.
Sources: USNI November 2023 MQ-9 Shootdown, Pentagon November 2023 MQ-9 Briefing, Pentagon February 2024 MQ-9 Briefing
Timeline
The first public Red Sea Crisis MQ-9 loss came less than three weeks after USS Carney's October 19, 2023 Red Sea missile-and-UAV engagement, during the early phase of Houthi launches from Yemen. The November 2023 MQ-9 shootdown placed U.S. unmanned surveillance aircraft inside the same maritime-security crisis that soon expanded into Operation Prosperity Guardian.
By March 2024, CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he had moved intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to cover areas where U.S. forces were being shot at, including the Red Sea. In March 2025, Stars and Stripes reported another U.S. MQ-9 loss of contact over the Red Sea on the same day Houthis claimed a Reaper shootdown, while noting that responsibility for that loss remained unclear.
Sources: USNI November 2023 MQ-9 Shootdown, Pentagon February 2024 MQ-9 Briefing, CENTCOM FY2025 Posture Hearing, Stars and Stripes March 2025 MQ-9 Loss
Operational role
The supported public role is maritime and Yemen-focused surveillance rather than confirmed MQ-9 strike employment. USNI described the Air Force's long use of Reapers for surveillance and strike missions in the region, and the Pentagon's February 2024 briefing confirmed a Reaper loss in the Red Sea but did not say whether that aircraft carried weapons.
The broader operational context points to intelligence collection and threat awareness around Houthi launch activity. Kurilla told senators that ISR over Iranian-aligned militia or Houthi launch activity could have a deterrent effect, while an Atlantic Council analysis of Houthi attacks on MQ-9s described the aircraft as important to U.S. threat awareness during the Red Sea security crisis. Claims about individual Houthi shootdowns after the confirmed November 2023 and February 2024 cases should be read cautiously unless separately confirmed by U.S. officials or recoverable evidence.
Sources: USNI November 2023 MQ-9 Shootdown, Pentagon February 2024 MQ-9 Briefing, CENTCOM FY2025 Posture Hearing, Atlantic Council MQ-9 Analysis
