Direct proof of use
Al-Mandab-1 appears in the 2014 Yemen Civil War as a Houthi designation for C-801/C-802-family anti-ship cruise missiles. CSIS reports that Houthi forces posted a November 2017 video showing anti-ship missiles designated Al-Mandab-1, and that Houthi forces employed C-801/802 missiles against military and civilian ships near Yemen's coast, including the 2016 USS Mason incidents.
The public evidence supports Houthi fielding and coastal anti-ship use of the C-801/C-802 family, but it does not support a clean open-source separation between every Al-Mandab-1 image and a specific C-801 or C-802 airframe. CSIS explicitly notes that physical similarity makes the Al-Mandab-1 identification uncertain between C-801 and C-802.
Sources: The Missile War in Yemen
Timeline
Yemen's pre-war government procured Chinese C-801 missiles before the current civil-war phase. CSIS cites a 1995 Chinese sale of 25 C-801 anti-ship missiles to Yemen and says a 2017 UN report recorded additional Yemeni Navy C-801 acquisition in 2006 or 2007.
After Houthi forces took Sanaa and the war widened in 2015, several C-801 missiles fell into Houthi hands when three Yemeni Navy Type 021 missile boats defected. In 2016, C-801/C-802-family missiles were assessed in anti-ship attacks around the Bab al-Mandeb approaches, including the HSV-2 Swift and USS Mason events. In November 2017, Houthi media publicly used the Al-Mandab-1 designation.
Sources: The Missile War in Yemen, USNI Mason Attack Report, Oryx Houthi Navy, TWZ Houthi Anti-Ship Arsenal
Narrative
The weapon's documented role in the Yemen war was coastal anti-ship strike and maritime area denial by Houthi-aligned forces. The system belonged to Yemen's inherited anti-ship missile stock rather than to a newly introduced Houthi design: Oryx lists C-801 "Al-Mandab-1" among Houthi anti-ship missile systems inherited from pre-war Yemeni Navy stocks, and TWZ describes the Houthi name as applied to C-801 missiles that had been acquired by the internationally recognized Yemeni government before the Houthis captured Sanaa and other areas.
The best-supported operational context is the 2016 maritime campaign near the Bab al-Mandeb and Yemen's Red Sea coast. USNI News reported that USS Mason defended itself and USS Ponce against suspected cruise missiles fired from the Yemeni shore on October 9, 2016, while CSIS later grouped the Mason incidents with Houthi C-801/802 attacks near Yemen's coastline. Oryx also attributes the October 1, 2016 strike on the UAE-operated HSV-2 Swift to a shore-fired C-801/C-802 anti-ship missile.
Later reporting treats Al-Mandab-1 as an older Houthi-held anti-ship cruise missile distinct from the longer-range Al-Mandab-2/C-802-derivative family. IISS and TWZ both describe C-801/Al-Mandab-1 stocks as still visible in Houthi parades while cautioning that public sources do not show how many remain operational.
Sources: Oryx Houthi Navy, TWZ Houthi Anti-Ship Arsenal, USNI Mason Attack Report, The Missile War in Yemen, IISS Houthi Anti-Ship Systems
