Houthi forces used at least one BTR-152 armored personnel carrier as an improvised carrier for a captured M167 Vulcan gun in Yemen, converting an older troop carrier into a mobile direct-fire platform.
| Claim | Sources |
|---|---|
| Houthi forces used a BTR-152 in Yemen as an improvised carrier for a captured M167 Vulcan gun. | Sources: The War Zone Vulcan Technicals |
| BTR-152 armored personnel carriers and 20 mm M167 guns were present in Yemeni Army equipment visible before the Houthi takeover. | |
| The BTR-152 was a Soviet six-wheeled APC with a two-person crew and space for infantry, making it a plausible armored vehicle base for a field modification. | Sources: RM Sotheby's BTR-152 |
Timeline
Oryx listed BTR-152 armored personnel carriers and 20 mm M167 guns in its handbook of Yemeni Army equipment visible before the Houthi takeover.
The War Zone reported that earlier pictures and clips showed Houthi rebels with an M167 Vulcan mounted on a BTR-152 wheeled armored personnel carrier.
Sources: The War Zone Vulcan Technicals
The War Zone reported in July 2018 that earlier pictures and clips from Yemen showed Houthi rebels with captured M167 Vulcan guns mounted not only on trucks, but also on a Soviet-era BTR-152 wheeled armored personnel carrier.
The documented BTR-152 use was therefore not a standard armored personnel carrier role. It was an improvised gun-carrier configuration that paired an older Yemeni armored vehicle type with a captured 20 mm Vulcan air-defense gun.
Sources: The War Zone Vulcan Technicals, Oryx Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles
Before the Houthi takeover, Oryx listed BTR-152 armored personnel carriers and 20 mm M167 guns among Yemeni Army equipment visible in the pre-war inventory. That background helps explain how both the chassis and the gun could appear in later Houthi service without proving a specific transfer route.
By July 2018, The War Zone had documented Houthi use of Vulcan-armed vehicle mounts in the war and specifically identified earlier imagery of an M167 mounted on a BTR-152.
Sources: Oryx Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles, The War Zone Vulcan Technicals
In Yemen, the BTR-152 appears in the evidence as a platform for battlefield improvisation rather than as a massed armored-personnel-carrier fleet. The vehicle gave Houthi forces an armored, wheeled base for a heavy rotary cannon, while the M167 provided rapid direct fire against ground targets and retained limited short-range air-defense potential.
The War Zone assessed that Houthi Vulcan-armed vehicles were being used mainly against ground targets such as lightly armored vehicles, exposed troops, and structures. Its reporting also noted that the original source of the captured M167 guns was unclear, while pointing to former Yemeni military stocks or Saudi-led coalition sources as likely routes.
Sources: The War Zone Vulcan Technicals
