Direct proof of use
Ghader is documented in the 2014 Yemen Civil War through Houthi-aligned anti-ship cruise missile stocks and use of Iranian C-802 derivatives. IISS assesses that Houthi primary anti-ship cruise missiles are Iranian-made C-802 derivatives, says these systems have been used against shipping in the Red Sea, and identifies the Houthi-displayed Al-Mandab-2 as closely resembling Iran's 200-kilometre Ghader derivative.
CTC analysis similarly describes Houthi anti-ship cruise missile development since 2015 as beginning with Iranian Nour and Ghadar missiles, two C-802 variants that the Houthis call Al-Mandab-2. The same analysis links this kind of weapon to the October 2016 strike that permanently crippled a UAE high-speed transport vessel and later states that Al-Mandab-2 is the Houthi anti-ship cruise missile known to have been used.
Sources: IISS Navigating Troubled Waters, CTC Houthi War Effort
Timeline
The Ghader-family record begins after the Houthi takeover of coastal territory and missile infrastructure in 2014-15. IISS says the Houthis inherited older Soviet and Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles when they took large parts of northern Yemen, then shortly afterward began receiving Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles and deployed them on a limited scale against the Saudi-led coalition.
Operational use is best documented at the C-802-derived family level. In October 2016, CTC links Iranian Nour and Ghadar C-802 variants, called Al-Mandab-2 by the Houthis, to the weapon type used to cripple a UAE high-speed transport vessel. In 2022 and later reporting, UN and IISS material tied Houthi-displayed Al-Mandab-2 missiles to the Ghader/Ghadir visual family, while IISS assessed the displayed system as closest to Ghader.
Sources: IISS Navigating Troubled Waters, CTC Houthi War Effort, UN Panel of Experts on Yemen 2023
Narrative
In Yemen, the Ghader family belonged to the Houthi coastal anti-ship and maritime interdiction arsenal. Its documented role was not inland fire support; sources place it among shore-launched anti-ship cruise missiles used to threaten coalition, U.S., Western naval, and commercial shipping around the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden approaches.
The public evidence supports a cautious identification. UN Panel reporting compared Al-Mandab-2 imagery with C-802-derived Iranian Ghader/Ghadir systems, while IISS later assessed the paraded Al-Mandab-2 as closely resembling Ghader but left the separate question of Ghadir acquisition unresolved. That means the conflict-use claim is strongest as Ghader-like C-802-derived Houthi ASCM use, not as proof that every reported Houthi C-802-family missile launch was a confirmed Iranian Ghader airframe.
This page therefore separates family-level use from exact variant certainty: Houthi-aligned forces used C-802-derived anti-ship cruise missiles in the 2014 Yemen Civil War, and multiple sources connect the Houthi Al-Mandab-2 designation and displayed missile to Iranian Nour/Ghadar or Ghader-like variants.
Sources: IISS Navigating Troubled Waters, CTC Houthi War Effort, UN Panel of Experts on Yemen 2023
