Direct proof of use
The AGM-154 JSOW appears in the 2014 Yemen Civil War through the U.S. strike campaign against Houthi targets that began on March 15, 2025. U.S. Central Command said that it initiated precision strikes against Houthi targets across Yemen on that date, while OSMP cataloged March 16 imagery of a U.S. F/A-18 carrying AGM-154 JSOW-series air-delivered bombs for strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen.
OSMP also recorded delivered AGM-154 JSOW-series remnants in Yemen after the campaign began, including an AGM-154C-associated WDU-45/B penetrator-warhead component reported in Al-Hudaydah Governorate on March 17 and additional JSOW-series fragments reported in Sana'a and Sa'ada governorates in early April 2025.
Sources: CENTCOM March 2025 Yemen strikes, OSMP1190 F/A-18 JSOW sortie, OSMP1207 Al-Hudaydah AGM-154C remnant, OSMP1311 Sana'a JSOW remnant, OSMP1316 Sa'ada JSOW remnant
Timeline
The documented sequence starts with the U.S. announcement of precision strikes across Yemen on March 15, 2025. On March 16, OSMP recorded U.S. Central Command imagery showing an American F/A-18 loaded with AGM-154 JSOW-series bombs for strikes against Houthi forces. The next day, OSMP documented an unexploded AGM-154C-associated WDU-45/B component in Al-Hudaydah Governorate.
Further JSOW-series remnants appeared in OSMP's April records: delivered fragments in Sa'ada Governorate on April 5 and Sana'a Governorate on April 6. Those entries support delivered use in Yemen, while the aircraft imagery supports U.S. F/A-18 carriage for the strike campaign.
Sources: CENTCOM March 2025 Yemen strikes, OSMP1190 F/A-18 JSOW sortie, OSMP1207 Al-Hudaydah AGM-154C remnant, OSMP1311 Sana'a JSOW remnant, OSMP1316 Sa'ada JSOW remnant
Narrative
JSOW's Yemen role was air-launched standoff strike. NAVAIR describes the AGM-154 family as a guided air-to-surface weapon carried by Navy F/A-18C/D and F/A-18E/F aircraft, among other platforms, with variant-dependent blast, penetration, and network-enabled capabilities.
The 2025 U.S. campaign formed part of the Red Sea escalation within the wider Yemen war. The Combating Terrorism Center assessed Operation Rough Rider as a March 15 to May 5, 2025 U.S. air campaign intended to restore freedom of navigation and deter Houthi attacks on shipping, and described targets including command-and-control facilities, weapon depots, air defenses, weapon factories, bases, port facilities, and Houthi personnel. The JSOW evidence does not by itself identify every target struck by AGM-154 weapons, but it directly places JSOW-series munitions on U.S. aircraft conducting Yemen strikes and among reported remnants in Yemen during that campaign.
Sources: NAVAIR JSOW product page, CTC Operation Rough Rider assessment, OSMP1190 F/A-18 JSOW sortie, OSMP1207 Al-Hudaydah AGM-154C remnant
