An MQ-9 Reaper lifts off from Creech Air Force Base, Nev., Feb. 8, 2025. U.S. Central Command confirmed that it lost contact with a Reaper over the Red Sea on March 3, 2025, the same day Houthi militants in Yemen said they had shot one down. (Victoria Nuzzi/U.S. Air Force)

A U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper drone disappeared over the Red Sea the same day Houthi militants in Yemen claimed to have shot one down, according to a defense official with knowledge of the operation.

U.S. Central Command lost contact with the drone Monday, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The day given by the official coincides with the one in an X post by the Houthis that they had downed a Reaper in a coastal region of Yemen using a surface-to-air missile. It’s unclear whether the Houthis were responsible for the loss of the drone.

“If true, then this is the latest example of the increased reckless actions by the Iranian-backed Houthis that pose a risk to regional stability,” the defense official told Stars and Stripes in an email.

News of the drone’s disappearance comes just as the U.S. reinstated its designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group.

The Houthis have launched hundreds of strikes at commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

In response to the Houthis’ actions, the U.S. has carried out regular strikes against the group. The most recent, in early January, took out an underground weapons storage site.

The U.S. has lost 12 MQ-9 Reaper drones to the Houthis since the start of the war in Gaza, the defense official said. The aircraft, which cost about $30 million apiece, are primarily used to gather intelligence but can also perform precision strikes.

Houthi activity in the Red Sea and nearby waters has significantly slowed since Israel and Hamas agreed to a tentative ceasefire in January.