Direct proof of use
The M167 Vulcan is documented in the 2014 Yemen Civil War through imagery and reporting of Houthi-aligned forces using captured 20 mm Vulcan Air Defense System guns. The War Zone reported in July 2018 that Houthi forces were employing technicals with 20 mm Vulcan cannons in Yemen and identified the system as the towed M167.
The same report tied the documented use to operations in Lahij Governorate against Saudi-led coalition elements or coalition-backed local forces, and it described an earlier Houthi video from January 2017 showing a Vulcan-armed vehicle in action in Taiz.
Sources: Houthi Rebels In Yemen Have Technical Trucks Armed With Vulcan Cannons
Capture and adaptation
Pre-war Yemeni inventories included 20 mm M167 guns and truck-mounted M167 configurations, giving a domestic stock base for later battlefield capture or reuse. The War Zone reported that Houthi forces had captured M167 examples by 2015, while a Combating Terrorism Center study described the broader Houthi absorption of Yemeni state military equipment, including anti-aircraft weapons, after the movement's 2014 seizure of Sanaa.
The original path of each photographed gun remains uncertain. Reporting assessed that the weapons most likely came from former Yemeni military stocks or from Saudi-led coalition members, noting that Saudi Arabia and Sudan also operated the M167.
Sources: Handbook Of Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles, Houthi Rebels In Yemen Have Technical Trucks Armed With Vulcan Cannons, The Houthi War Machine
Battlefield role
In Houthi service, documented M167s appeared less as fixed towed air-defense weapons and more as improvised mobile fire-support systems. The War Zone identified examples mounted on stripped Toyota Hilux technicals, a U.S.-made M54-series truck, and a Soviet-era BTR-152 armored personnel carrier.
The M167's original role was short-range air defense, but the Yemen examples were reported in ground-combat settings. Its 20 mm M168 rotary cannon gave Houthi-aligned forces a high-volume direct-fire weapon that could be moved with light vehicles, while the system retained some short-range air-defense relevance when properly supplied and operated.
Sources: Houthi Rebels In Yemen Have Technical Trucks Armed With Vulcan Cannons, TM 9-1005-286-10 Operator's Manual for Gun, Air Defense Artillery, Towed, 20-mm, M167A1
