Saudi forces used French-built 120 mm RT mortars in the Yemen war's Saudi-Yemeni border fighting, where Saudi artillery and mortar systems supported border bombardment and fire-support operations against Houthi-aligned forces.
| Claim | Sources |
|---|---|
| Saudi forces used French-built 120 mm RT mortars in the Yemen border war. | Sources: Arms Trade Watch Land War, Amnesty France Export Report |
| The documented role was border mortar fire support and bombardment from the Saudi side of the frontier. | |
| The public sources reviewed do not assign a named strike or impact location solely to a MO-120 RT mortar. | Sources: Arms Trade Watch Land War, Amnesty France Export Report |
Timeline
Saudi Arabia began a coalition campaign in Yemen after Houthi-aligned forces advanced against the internationally recognized government, creating the border-war context in which Saudi artillery and mortar systems were later documented.
Sources: Disclose Yemen Papers
Amnesty International France identified an AP/SIPA photograph as showing Saudi soldiers firing a TDA-made 120 mm RT mortar in Najran, Saudi Arabia, near the Yemeni border.
Sources: Amnesty France Export Report
Arms Trade Watch described Saudi Army use of French-built 120 mm RT mortars and Saudi artillery deployments near the border for fire into Yemen.
Sources: Arms Trade Watch Land War
Saudi use of the MO-120 RT family in the 2014 Yemen Civil War is documented through border-war reporting and identified imagery. Arms Trade Watch listed Saudi Army use of French-built 120 mm RT mortars among the artillery and mortar systems deployed near the Yemen border, and described Saudi artillery units positioned near the border as conducting regular bombardments of Houthi-held territory inside Yemen.
Amnesty International France identified a 21 April 2015 Associated Press/SIPA image from Najran, Saudi Arabia, as showing Saudi soldiers firing a 120 mm RT mortar made by TDA Armements near the Yemeni border. The same report cited a June 2015 Al-Arabi television video and AP photographs from Najran as visual corroboration for Saudi 120 mm RT mortar use in the border context.
Sources: Arms Trade Watch Land War, Amnesty France Export Report
The first dated evidence in the sources reviewed for this page is 21 April 2015, less than a month after the Saudi-led coalition began its intervention in Yemen. The identified image places Saudi soldiers with a TDA-made 120 mm RT mortar at Najran, a Saudi border province facing northern Yemen.
By 2018 and 2019, arms-trade and investigative reporting described Saudi border artillery as a continuing part of the land war. The available sources support the weapon's role as border fire support, but they do not identify a specific Saudi unit, individual mortar section, or named strike in Yemen that can be attributed solely to a MO-120 RT.
Sources: Amnesty France Export Report, Arms Trade Watch Land War, Disclose Yemen Papers
In the Yemen land war, the MO-120 RT appears on the Saudi-led coalition side rather than as a documented Houthi weapon. The strongest open-source evidence points to Saudi Army border employment: identified 120 mm RT mortar imagery from Najran and Arms Trade Watch's placement of Saudi 120 mm RT mortars alongside other artillery used from the Saudi side of the frontier.
This use fits the wider pattern of Saudi border operations. Reporting on the land war describes Saudi troops and Saudi-backed forces operating around northern border areas, while Saudi artillery fired into Yemen in support of the coalition's campaign against Houthi-aligned forces. For the MO-120 RT specifically, the public evidence establishes deployment and firing from the border area, but not precise impact locations or casualty outcomes.
Sources: Arms Trade Watch Land War, Amnesty France Export Report, Disclose Yemen Papers
