Houthi Drone and Missile Handbook

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

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

Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles

Samad-4 (Supplied by Iran)
Rujum (Commercially obtainable YD6-1000S UAV)

Loitering Munitions

Qasef-1 (Supplied by Iran. Based on the Ababil-2T UAV. Similar type was supplied to Hizbullah)
Qasef-2K (Supplied by Iran. Based on the Ababil-2T UAV)
Samad-2 ''UAV-X'' (Supplied by Iran)
Samad-3 (Supplied by Iran)
Shihab (Supplied by Iran)
Wa'aed (Supplied by Iran)
Khatif (Supplied by Iran)

Ballistic Missiles

OTR-21 Tochka (Inventory likely depleted. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
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)
Borkan-H2 ([Components] supplied by Iran. Based on the Qiam ballistic missile)
Borkan-3 ''Zolfaghar'' ([Components] supplied by Iran. Based on the Qiam ballistic missile)
Qasim-2 (Likely based on 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)
Nakal (Improved version of the Badr-F. Origin unknown)

Cruise Missiles

Quds-2 ''Quds-351'' (Supplied by Iran. Variant of the Soumar family of cruise missiles)

Multiple Rocket Launchers

Al-Najim al-Thaqib 1 (Origin unknown. Superseded by the Badr-series of rockets)
Al-Najim al-Thaqib 2 (Origin unknown. Superseded by the Badr-series of rockets)
Al-Sarkha-1 (Documented by a few sources, not yet seen. Superseded by the Badr-series of rockets)
Al-Sarkha-2 (Documented by a few sources, not yet seen. Superseded by the Badr-series of rockets)
Al-Sarkha-3 (Origin unknown. Superseded by the Badr-series of rockets)
Badr-1 (Origin unknown) Three configurations: (1, truck-based) (2, truck-based) (3, underground)
Badr-1P (Iranian Fajr-5B) (Mockup)
Saeer (Likely based on the Iranian Fajr-5B)
Qasim (Likely based on the Iranian Fajr-5B)
Samood (Cannibalized 9M21 rocket of 9K52 Luna-M system inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
Zelzal-1 (Collective designation for IRAMs) Four configurations: (2) (3) (4)
Zelzal-2 (Soviet S-24 air-launched rocket inherited from pre-war Yemeni Air Force stocks)
Zelzal-3 (Cannibalized 9M21 rocket of 9K52 Luna-M system inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
107mm Type 63 (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
122mm Sakr '6' (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
122mm Sakr '40' (Inventory likely depleted. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
122mm BM-21 'Grad' (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
122mm Grad single tube launcher (Converted from BM-21s inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
122mm Grad dual tube launcher (Converted from BM-21s inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
132mm M13 'Katyusha' (Inventory likely depleted. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
220mm BM-27 'Uragan' (Inventory likely depleted. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
220mm BM-27 on Star 1466 (Inventory likely depleted. Converted from BM-27s)
220mm Uragan single tube launcher (Inventory likely depleted. Converted from BM-27s)

Coastal Defence Missile Systems

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

Anti-Tank Guided Missiles

9M14 Malyutka (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
9K111 Fagot (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
9K115 Metis (Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
9M133 Kornet (Supplied by Iran. Several interdicted by Coalition forces on the way to Yemen)
Towsan-1 (Supplied by Iran. Several interdicted by Coalition forces on the way to Yemen)
Dehlavieh (Supplied by Iran. At least 171 interdicted by Coalition forces on the way to Yemen)
Saeghe (Supplied by Iran)
Toophan (Supplied by Iran. Several interdicted by Coalition forces on the way to Yemen)

Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems

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)
''Iranian modified Strela-2'' (Usage reported by USCENTCOM)
Misagh-2 (At least five seized by the United States, November 2019 on the way to Yemen)

Surface-to-Air Missiles

S-75 (Usage documented once. Most converted to Qahers. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
9K31 Strela-1 (Usage documented in early 2019. Inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
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)
Fater-1 (9M336 missile of 2K12 Kub SAM system inherited from pre-war Yemeni Army stocks)
Sayyad-2C (At least one interdicted by Saudi Arabia in early 2018 on the way to Yemen)
''358'' (At least eight seized by the United States, November 2019 and February 2020 on the way to Yemen)