Saudi F-15SA down in Yemen
- Saudi F-15SA down in Yemen
By
Mark Broadbent
18th September 2026
News
On September 16, 2026, Houthi forces in Yemen claimed they had shot down a Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) F-15.
The group claimed they brought down the fighter in Marib Governate, a region in central Yemen located approximately 107 miles (173km) northeast of the country’s capital Sanaa.
The group said they had downed the fighter using a locally produced surface-to-air missile.
Thus far official social media accounts of the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had yet to formally confirm the loss of an F-15 or the fate of its two crewmembers.
Part of the tail of a Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA the Houthis claimed to have shot down. Houthis via social media
Houthis' video
Three minutes of video footage posted to the social media network X by the Houthis (known formally as Ansar Allah) showed what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile launching from the ground into the night sky. There followed an infrared view of a missile hitting an F-15. The footage then presented burning wreckage on the ground in the darkness and smouldering aircraft debris in daylight.
Later in the video, Houthi fighters armed with guns are seen inspecting the wreckage. An F-15 tailfin bearing the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wearing serial number 5539 indicates the aircraft involved was an F-15SA.
The
Saudi F-15 shootdown in Yemen occurred as fighting escalated between Saudi Arabia-backed Yemen Government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis, who have increased missile and drone attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi F-15 Eagle background
The Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s are operated by:
F-15C/D Eagle Squadrons
- 2nd Squadron, King Faisal Air Base
- 5th Squadron, King Fahd Air Base
- 13th Squadron, King Abdulah Aziz Air Base
- 34th Squadron, King Fahd Air Base
F-15S and F-15SA Squadrons
- 6th Squadron, King Khalid Air Base
- 29th Squadron, King Faisal Air Base
- 55th Squadron, King Khalid Air Base
- 92nd Squadron, King Saud Air Base
Saudi Arabia has received more than 220 Eagles since the early 1980s comprising older F-15C/D Eagles and more modern F-15S and F-15SA examples.
The country received an initial batch of 62 Eagles (46 F-15Cs and 16 F-15Ds) under the Peace Sun Foreign Military Sales programme from January 1982 to May 1983. The United States Congress denied subsequent requests by Saudi Arabia for more F-15s (48 aircraft in 1983 and 12 in 1989) but in the aftermath of Iraq invading Kuwait on August 2, 1990, the RSAF received 24 F-15C/Ds and then, from mid-1991, the 12 Eagles requested in 1989.
A Saudi order for 72 newer F-15s was approved in 1993, which led to the delivery of what became the F-15S (Saudi) under the Peace Sun IX Foreign Military Sales programme. The F-15S was a two-seat airframe based on the US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle featuring both air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities.
The F-15S Eagles were delivered between 1995 and 1999. The Saudis obtained 48 sets of a simplified version of the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pod to equip these aircraft. In 2009, the Saudis ordered the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods to replace the LANTIRN pods.
F-15 Saudi Advanced
On December 29, 2011, Saudi Arabia reached an agreement with the US Government for the purchase of 84 of the F-15SA (Saudi Advanced) variant which would be new-build aircraft. The deal also included the upgrade of 68 F-15Ss (later reduced to 66) to F-15SA standard, plus weapons, systems and equipment.
The F-15SA version is powered by two GE Aviation F110GE-129 engines, has a fly-by-wire flight control system, advanced cockpit displays, a Raytheon AN/APG-63(V)3 active electronically scanned array radar, a digital electronic warfare system, AN/AAS-42 infrared search and track system, a joint helmet-mounted cueing system, and a Link-16 multifunctional information distribution system.
The F-15SA can carry the AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod and AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN systems, AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range missile, AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM (advanced medium-range air-to-air missile), AGM-84H/K Stand-Off Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response missile, AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, GBU-24 Paveway III laser-guided bomb, Joint Direct Attack Munition, and Mk82 500lb and Mk84 2,000lb general-purpose bombs.
Saudi Arabia received the 84 F-15SAs from January 2017 to December 2020. Meanwhile, the Saudi firm Alsalam Aerospace Industries (AAI) was contracted to upgrade the F-15S to F-15SA standard in country under the F-15SR (Saudi Retrofit) programme. AAI accepted its first F-15S for conversion on October 21, 2018. The ‘SR’ upgrade included new wings, forward fuselages and pylons and updated avionics produced by the Riyadh-based Advanced Electronics.
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