Burkan-1 ballistic missile

Conflict Usage

Yemen Civil War

Side: Houthi-aligned forcesRole: Locally upgraded cross-border strike missilestrikedeep strike

Yemen Civil War: used by Houthi-aligned forces after the missile was unveiled in 2016 and fired at Saudi targets, including the Taif and Mecca/Jeddah axes.

Burkan-1 ballistic missile Images

Related Weapon Systems

MunitionsHwasong-6 ballistic missileShort-range ballistic missileThe Hwasong-6 is a North Korean Scud-C-derived short-range ballistic missile with a longer range and smaller payload than earlier Scud-B types. In the Yemen Civil War, Houthi-aligned forces used Scud-C/Hwasong-6-class missiles for cross-border ballistic strikes against Saudi Arabia, making the system part of the conflict's long-range missile and air-defense record.

MunitionsScud-C ballistic missileShort-range liquid-fueled ballistic missileThe Scud-C is an extended-range member of the Soviet Scud ballistic-missile family, trading payload and accuracy for a roughly 550 km range. In the Yemen Civil War, Houthi-aligned forces used Scud-series missiles for cross-border strikes against Saudi targets, and CSIS reporting identifies Scud-C launches early in the 2015 missile campaign.

MunitionsBurkan-3 ballistic missileMedium-range ballistic missileBurkan-3 is the Houthi name for a long-range liquid-fueled ballistic missile unveiled in August 2019. Open-source analysis links it to Iran's Qiam lineage, and Houthi forces used it in Yemen Civil War strikes that expanded their reach to Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast.

MunitionsHwasong-5 ballistic missileRoad-mobile short-range ballistic missileThe Hwasong-5 is North Korea's Scud-B-derived short-range ballistic missile, a road-mobile liquid-fueled weapon with roughly 300 km range. In the Yemen Civil War, Houthi-aligned forces are documented as fielding inherited Yemeni Hwasong-5/6 stocks, with most assessed as converted into Burkan-series missiles rather than retained as unmodified missiles.

MunitionsR-17 Scud-B ballistic missileShort-range ballistic missileThe R-17 Elbrus, known to NATO as the SS-1C Scud-B, is a Soviet road-mobile, liquid-fueled short-range ballistic missile built for deep strikes with conventional, chemical, or nuclear payloads. Armenian forces used Scud-B missiles in strikes on Ganja during the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, and Houthi-aligned forces fielded inherited Yemeni R-17E/Scud-B stocks during the Yemen Civil War, illustrating the continued battlefield and political risk of older, inaccurate ballistic missiles in regional wars.

ArtilleryQaher-1 ballistic missileShort-range ballistic missileQaher-1 is the Houthi-aligned forces' Yemeni conversion of Soviet S-75/V-755 surface-to-air missiles into a land-attack ballistic rocket during the Yemen Civil War. The system mattered because it gave the movement a locally modified, cross-border strike option against Saudi targets starting in late 2015.

Sources