Direct proof of use
The clearest documented Al-Mandab-2 use in the 2023 Red Sea Crisis is the 11 December 2023 missile attack on the Norwegian-flagged tanker M/T Strinda near Bab el-Mandeb. U.S. Central Command assessed that the tanker was struck by an anti-ship cruise missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, damaging the ship and starting a fire without reported casualties.
The weapon identification is strongest when those official incident details are read with later technical and analytical sources. The Defense Intelligence Agency linked engine debris from the Strinda attack to the Iranian Tolu-4 engine used in the Noor anti-ship cruise missile family, while Combating Terrorism Center analysis identifies Al-Mandab-2 as the Houthi C-802-family anti-ship cruise missile known to have been used.
Sources: CENTCOM Strinda Statement, DIA Seized At Sea, CTC Houthi War Effort
Timeline
On 11 December 2023, the Strinda was hit while transiting near Bab el-Mandeb. CENTCOM described the munition as an assessed anti-ship cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen; DIA later published imagery-based component comparison tying recovered engine debris to the Noor-family Tolu-4 engine.
On 11 January 2024, U.S. Navy forces interdicted a dhow in the Arabian Sea carrying Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missile components bound for the Houthis. CENTCOM said the seized components included items for anti-ship cruise missiles and that initial analysis connected the same weapons to Houthi attacks on merchant shipping.
Sources: CENTCOM Strinda Statement, DIA Seized At Sea, CENTCOM January 2024 Interdiction
Narrative
Al-Mandab-2 appears in open-source analysis as a Houthi designation within the C-802-derived Noor/Ghader/Ghadir anti-ship cruise missile family. CTC describes Houthi ASCM holdings as Iranian Nour and Ghadar variants of the Chinese C-802 that the Houthis call Al-Mandab-2, and separately notes that only one anti-shipping attack in the post-October 2023 campaign was strongly associated with an ASCM: the Strinda strike.
IISS assesses that C-802-derived systems played a smaller role than Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones during the campaign. It lists Noor and Ghader among anti-ship cruise missiles known to have been used in the November 2023-August 2024 Houthi anti-shipping campaign, while also noting uncertainty over whether the Houthis had acquired the longer-range Ghadir variant.
The documented role in this conflict was maritime interdiction and area denial against commercial shipping near the southern Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb. The available public evidence supports a specific Strinda strike and related supply/component context; it does not support treating every Houthi anti-shipping incident in the crisis as an Al-Mandab-2 launch.
Sources: CTC Houthi War Effort, IISS Navigating Troubled Waters, CENTCOM Strinda Statement, CENTCOM January 2024 Interdiction
