Naval Systems

Mobile coastal launcher

This Houthi mobile coastal launcher is a truck-mounted shore battery assembled from recovered C.801 launchers and surface-search radars taken from Yemeni Navy stocks. Open-source reporting ties it to the Al-Mandab-1 anti-ship cruise missile and the later Al-Mandab-2 family, and says the missile's launch range from the launcher does not exceed 40 km.

Specifications

Mobility
Truck-mounted and road-mobile
Launcher base
Recovered C.801 launchers installed on several trucks
Fire control
Coupled with surface-search radars for target cuing
Missile family
Al-Mandab-1 / C-801 anti-ship cruise missile
Reported missile range
Up to 40 km when launched from the mobile coastal launcher

Service And Conflict Use

Service History

In service
Fielded from 2015 after Houthi forces repurposed recovered C.801 launchers and trucks into a coastal-defense battery.
Used by
Houthi-aligned forces

Launched Missiles

These sources describe the launcher as the truck-mounted coastal battery used to fire Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles from Yemen's coast.

Launched itemItem typeLaunch evidence
Al-Mandab-1 anti-ship cruise missileAnti-ship cruise missile

National Interest says Yemeni sailors recovered C.801 launchers and mounted missiles on trucks with surface-search radars, while Army Recognition and Topwar describe Al-Mandab-1 as fired from a mobile coastal launcher.

Sources: National Interest: Houthi missiles that could sink a navy warship, Army Recognition: Red Sea arsenal analysis, Topwar: Houthi anti-ship weapons review

Al-Mandab-2 anti-ship cruise missileAnti-ship cruise missile

Oryx describes truck-based launchers that can be hidden after a launch and lists Qader/Al-Mandab-2 among the Houthi anti-ship missile systems, which supports the launcher-family relationship shown here.

Sources: Oryx: A Maritime Menace The Houthi Navy

Mobile coastal launcher Images

Related Weapon Systems

R-360 Neptune / Long Neptune, Truck-launched anti-ship and land-attack cruise missile, ArtilleryArtilleryR-360 Neptune / Long NeptuneTruck-launched anti-ship and land-attack cruise missileThe R-360 Neptune is a Ukrainian truck-launched cruise missile developed by State Kyiv Design Bureau Luch as a coastal anti-ship system and later adapted into longer-range land-attack variants. In the Russia-Ukraine War it became one of Ukraine's most visible domestic precision-strike weapons, first for Black Sea targets such as Moskva and later through the Long Neptune / Neptune-D family reported with a 1,000 km reach.

Sources