Direct proof of use
The clearest public record of Hellfire-family use in the 2014 Yemen Civil War is a January 30, 2023 suspected U.S. drone strike in Wadi Ubaydah, Marib governorate. Associated Press reported that three suspected AQAP members were killed and that images of the vehicle wreckage, reviewed by AP and weapons experts, indicated a Hellfire R9X.
Airwars recorded the same incident as an alleged United States drone strike at or near Al Hayra petrol station in Marib, with local reporting and open-source analysis identifying the munition as an R9X Hellfire. New America likewise described the Marib strike as appearing to have used a Hellfire R9X missile while noting that the United States had not publicly acknowledged the operation.
Sources: AP Marib R9X Report, Airwars USYEMBi008, New America Yemen Operations
Timeline
On January 30, 2023, a vehicle was struck in Wadi Ubaydah near Marib. AP reported that local tribal leaders identified the dead as suspected AQAP members, and Airwars logged the location at Al Hayra petrol station with three reported militant fatalities and no civilian casualties reported by local sources.
By February 2023, AP, Airwars, and New America had all connected the strike to a likely Hellfire R9X based on vehicle-damage patterns, imagery, local reporting, and weapons-expert assessment. ACLED later framed the January strike as part of a short sequence of suspected U.S. drone strikes on AQAP figures in Marib during the first two months of 2023.
Sources: AP Marib R9X Report, Airwars USYEMBi008, New America Yemen Operations, ACLED AQAP 2023 Report
Narrative
The documented user is assessed as the United States, and the documented role is targeted counterterrorism strike rather than front-line fighting between Houthi-aligned forces and Yemeni government or Saudi-led coalition forces. The parent conflict row therefore treats the weapon as appearing in the Yemen civil-war theater through the anti-AQAP strike context in government-controlled Marib.
The public sources separate the weapon claim from broader operational responsibility. AP reported that U.S. Air Forces Central said it had no information that its forces carried out a Marib strike and that the CIA declined to comment. New America similarly noted that the U.S. government had not acknowledged conducting the January 2023 operation. The record therefore supports likely Hellfire R9X use in the conflict theater, while the exact U.S. organization, launch platform, variant serial evidence, and target-selection rationale remain unconfirmed in public sources.
Sources: AP Marib R9X Report, New America Yemen Operations
