Friday, 6 September 2019

Houthi Drone and Missile Handbook

Friday, September 06, 2019 Ansar Allah , Badr-1 3 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer

This list only includes equipment confirmed to be in service with Houthi militants in Yemen or interdicted on the way to Yemen. The goal of this list is to comprehensively catalogue the current inventory of drones, rockets and missiles of the Houthi militants as well as clarify their origin

Notes:

- If several configurations of a vehicle with one designation are known, they are added as such.

- When the origin of a piece of equipment is unknown, it is indicated as such.

- The part within apostrophes refers to an unoffical name, such as the US DoD xxx designation system.

(Click on the equipment to get a picture of them in Houthi service.)


Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

  • Hudhud-1 (Origin unknown)
  • Rased (Commercially obtainable Skywalker X8 UAV)
  • Raqeep (U.S. Raven RQ-11 inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • Iran Samad-1 (Supplied by Iran. Previously sighted in Iran and Syria. Also supplied to Hizbullah in Lebanon)

 

Loitering Munitions

 

Ballistic Missiles

  • Soviet Union OTR-21 Tochka (Inventory likely depleted. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • Soviet Union R-17 Elbrus "Scud-B" (Most converted to Borkans. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • Hwasŏng-5/6 "Scud-B/C'' (Most converted to Borkans. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks) 
  • Borkan-1 (Modified Scud/Hwasŏng missile inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks) 
  • Borkan-2 (Modified Scud/Hwasŏng missile inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks) 
  • Iran Borkan-H2 ([Components] supplied by Iran. Based on the Qiam ballistic missile)  
  • Iran Borkan-3 ([Components] supplied by Iran. Based on the Qiam ballistic missile)   
  • Qaher-1 (Repurposed Soviet V-750 missile of S-75 SAM inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks) 
  • Qaher-M2 (Modified Soviet V-750 missile of S-75 SAM inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks) 
  • Badr-F (Origin unknown)

 

Cruise Missiles

 

Multiple Rocket Launchers

 

Coastal Defence Missile Systems

  • Al-Mandab-1 (Chinese C-801 AShM inherited from pre-war Yemeni Navy stocks)
  • Iran Noor (At least one interdicted by by the United States, November 2019 on the way to Yemen)


Anti-Tank Guided Missiles

 

Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems

  • Soviet Union 9K32 Strela-2 (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • 9K338 Igla-S (Origin unknown. At least one captured from Houthi militants by Coalition forces)
  • Iran ''Iranian modified Strela-2'' (Usage reported by USCENTCOM)
  • Iran Misagh-2 (At least five seized by the United States, November 2019 on the way to Yemen)

 

Surface-to-Air Missiles

  • Soviet Union S-75 (Usage documented once. Most converted to Qahers. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • Soviet Union 9K31 Strela-1 (Usage documented in early 2019. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • Soviet Union R-60M (AAM modified for SAM role. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Air Force stocks)
  • Thaqib-1 (R-73 AAM modified for SAM role. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Air Force stocks)
  • Thaqib-2 (R-27T AAM modified for SAM role. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Air Force stocks)
  • Thaqib-3 (R-77 AAM modified for SAM role. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Air Force stocks)
  • Soviet Union Fater-1 (9M336 missile of 2K12 Kub SAM system inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
  • Iran Sayyad-2C (At least one interdicted by Saudi Arabia in early 2018 on the way to Yemen)

Multi-Purpose Missiles

Recommended Articles

Houthi Rebels Unveil Host of Weaponry, Compounding Drone and Missile Threat

List of Iranian Arms and Equipment Supplied to Houthi Militants in Yemen since 2015
The Oryx Handbook of Pre-war Yemeni Fighting Vehicles
The Oryx Handbook of Iranian Drones
The Oryx Handbook of Iranian Ballistic Missiles and Artillery Rockets
 

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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous6 September 2019 at 19:16

    A few miscellaneous notes:

    - 2K12 Kub (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks) should be added to the Surface-to-Air-Missiles section. US CENTCOM confirmed that it was used in the June 6th shootdown of an MQ-9; the Houthis subsequently claim that it was used in the later Aug. 24th downing of another MQ-9. See:

    https://www.janes.com/article/90697/yemeni-rebels-unveil-new-sam

    - Iranian-supplied C-802 copies, of the Qader / Noor series may be part of the Houthi AShM inventory. This has not been confirmed to the best of my knowledge, but at the time of the attack on the HSV-2 Swift, and the unsuccessful shots at the USS Mason, it was widely suspected that the offending weapons were Iranian C-802s. See:

    https://news.usni.org/2016/10/11/uss-mason-fired-3-missiles-to-defend-from-yemen-cruise-missiles-attack

    - The single Sayyad-2C furnished by the Saudis is something of a mystery. None of the associated battery equipment – surveillance / engagement radars, transloaders, TELs, etc. – were ever displayed, nor has their use been observed in-country. The Saudi-captured example lacked fins and a guidance section.

    The Sayyad series is part of the Ra’ad / Khordad system, the premier Iranian domestic SAM product. It seems questionable that the Iranians would provide such an important strategic asset to the Houthis, especially since it has not appeared in Iraq or Syria to give IRGC forces themselves protection.

    - The ‘Iranian-modified Strela-2' may well either be stock 9K32 / 9K34 systems, or else simply domestic Iranian Misagh-series MANPADS. I don’t recall the Iranians ever claiming to manufacture or modify SA-7 missiles; the ‘modified SA-7’ moniker may simply reflect US confusion over Iranian SAM holdings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oryx7 September 2019 at 03:14

      Hi,

      Thank you for taking the time to go through the list and providing your comments! Please note that the 2K12 is already in the list under its Houthi name 'Fater-1'.

      The usage of C-802s or their Iranian derivatives was indeed suspected prior to the unveilment of the 'Al Mandab 1', which was the likely culprit behind the attacks on the HSV-2 Swift and US Navy. Of course that's not to say that there aren't any Iranian delivered AShMs in Yemen, but there is currently no real reason to add them to the list.

      The story of the Sayyad-2C is indeed a bit of a mystery. The lack of fins and a guidance section can be explained by the need to disassemble the missile in order to transport it to Yemen. It is possible Iran hoped to test the system in Yemen, using a variety of other systems to guide the missile to the target. In this configuaration it wouldn't need any of the sophisticated support systems usually associated with modern SAM systems.

      I totally agree with you on the 'Iranian-modified Strela-2'. I've added quotation marks to clarify that the designation is that of CENTCOM.


      Kind regards,

      Oryx

      Delete
    2. Tim Armstrong9 September 2019 at 19:06

      I would tend to doubt the saudi claim of the sayyad 2c,not only does it seem very unlikely in the extreme that the iranians would send a still under development sam to another country where it could fall into the hands of enemy forces,but that they would send it without all of the associated hardware such as fire control radars,that without which the missile is virtually useless.Now I know that there is the typical western tendency to underestimate capabilities or to treat ones opponents as non rational morons,but in reality this is usually often not the case and the idea that iran would do these sorts of things is just idiotic wishful thinking,imho anyway.
      Lastly when one takes a look at the rear section of an actual iranian sayyad 2 and the saudi claimed example it is painfully obvious that whatever the saudis have it is NOT a sayyad 2.My own take is that this is a rather crude saudi fake,now I suppose that this could be a crude houthi fake,but frankly why would they even bother.By comparison the saudi rationale is fairly easy to discern.
      Heres a picture of an iranian sayyad 2 rear section,I think it speaks for itself.
      https://cdn.yjc.ir/files/en/news/2014/6/9/16348_696.jpg
      Anyway,keep up the great work and I am looking forward to your upcoming book on the dprk military.

      Delete

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