On
3 August 2015, BBC reports that 'pro-government forces in Yemen have launched a major offensive to oust Houthi rebels from an air base north of the port of Aden, military sources say. They say a number of rebels were killed as troops loyal to President Mansour Abdrabbuh Hadi and militia units stormed the strategic southern base. Al-Anad, 60km (37 miles) from Aden, had previously housed US troops overseeing drone attacks on al-Qaeda in Yemen.'
Bipartisanpolicy.org has an helpful background article titled: '
Crash Course: Conflict in Yemen', that identifies who is who in Yemen.
Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah): Yemeni rebel fighters named for Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, based in the Shia Zaydi-majority northern Sa’dah governorate. Houthis seized control of the capital of Sanaa in September 2014.
Ali Abdullah Saleh: President of Yemen from 1978 (when he served as president of North Yemen until reunification in 1990) until stepping down in 2011 as part of an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in response to widespread protests against his rule. Saleh retains control over some of the country’s security forces, who are loyal to him and not his successor President Hadi. Saleh has allied with the Houthis against President Hadi. Although he is a Zaydi, the predominant Shia sect in Yemen, he led a Sunni-majority government and is supported among Yemen’s Sunnis.
Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi: Formerly Saleh’s vice president, became president in 2012, and was forced out by Houthi rebels in January 2015. After escaping from house arrest, he fled to the southern city of Aden, where he is mobilizing his Sunni supporters.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP): Militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, formed by a merger of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi branches in January 2009, with strongholds primarily in Yemen’s south.
Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL): Sunni Islamist terrorist group active in Syria and Iraq, ISIS has expanded to Yemen under the name Sanaa Province, carrying out two suicide attacks against Houthi mosques in Sanaa in March 2015. Once an offshoot of al-Qaeda, ISIS broke off from the al-Qaeda umbrella in February 2014 and declared itself the leader of an Islamic Caliphate.
Pictures circulating on Twitter show that the UAE have deployed M109 self propelled howitzers as part of the armoured brigade.
https://mobile.twitter.com/JosephHDempsey/status/630679627871162369/photo/1
There is at least a UAE tank squadron (i.e. company of tanks) supported by UAE armoured carriers. However, I am not certain if the people/infantry carried in these UAE armoured carriers are UAE troops or members of a rebel faction supported by the UAE or are they 'rebels loyal to President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi' in the Saudi led coalition in Yemen?
My guess would be that there are special forces elements embedded with this UAE force in Yemen (for simplicity, I shall just refer to these as 'rebels loyal to President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi' in the Saudi led coalition in Yemen). In the
August 6, 2015 report in IHS Janes 360 you have cited earlier, I have taken the liberty to provide another extract of below.
'By 3 August the UAE had landed Leclerc tanks, additional BMP-3s (seemingly not carrying any infantry), at least one 155 mm G6 self-propelled howitzer, and Agrab mortar carriers. One video clip showed nine Leclercs driving out of Aden, meaning at least one tank battalion (squadron) has been landed.
Some - but not all - the Leclercs in Yemen are equipped with the AZUR urban warfare protection package. The UAE is known to have bought at least 13 AZUR kits, so the presence of Leclercs without the additional armour suggests a second battalion has been deployed to Yemen.
These tank battalions are presumably part of an armoured brigade that includes at least one battalion of BMP-3s in addition to G6 and Agrab batteries and all the associated support vehicles, including large numbers of Tatra trucks.
Photographs from Aden suggest the UAE military has used the roll-on/roll-off terminal next to the refinery at Little Aden as its main beachhead. Its navy has several tank landing craft as well as two larger 80 m amphibious warfare vessels that were almost certainly involved in the operation.'
Of particular interest to me, is the AGRAB, which is fitted with the 120mm Super Rapid Advanced Mortar System (SRAMS), which is also in service in Singapore. The AGRAB is a SRAMS is mounted on a BAE RG31 vehicle. And this vehicle is fitted with an ammunition handling system, consisting of two carousels, capable of accepting various types of mortar bombs. A total of 46 bombs (23 bombs in each carousel) can be stored in the carousels, with two additional ready round racks, providing space for up to 12 ready bombs. An Auxiliary Power Unit is fixed to the vehicle to provide power to the SRAMS, fire control and air conditioning system during deployment.
