Profile
- Type
- Improvised explosive device
- Conflict side
- Houthi-aligned forces
- Origin
- Yemen
- Service note
- 2010s-present
Infantry Weapons
Radio-controlled improvised explosive device
Radio-controlled improvised explosive devices are improvised bombs detonated by a radio-frequency command link rather than by victim contact. In the Yemen Civil War, Conflict Armament Research documented Houthi-used RCIEDs and described domestically produced devices recovered on Yemen's west coast, placing the system within the conflict's roadside-bomb threat.
- Conflict side
- Houthi-aligned forces
- Built by
- Houthi forces
- Built in
- Yemen
Service History
- In service
- Documented in the Yemen Civil War as a remotely detonated roadside-bomb type.
- Used by
- Houthi-aligned forces
- Wars
- Yemen Civil War
Production History
- Designer
- Unknown / improvised
- Designed
- By 2018
- Built by
- Houthi forces
- Built in
- Yemen
- Unit cost
- Unknown; improvised and low-cost
- Produced
- 2010s-present
- Number built
- Unknown
- Variants
- Radio-frequency command-detonated IED
Specifications
- Triggering method
- Radio-frequency command link with a transmitter and receiver
- Construction
- Improvised from non-military components
- Power source
- Battery-powered firing circuit
- Function
- Detonated from a distance rather than by victim contact
Conflict Usage
- Yemen Civil War
- Side: Houthi-aligned forcesRole: Remote-detonated roadside bomb
Used by Houthi-aligned forces in the Yemen Civil War; CAR documents radio-controlled improvised explosive devices used in Yemen and describes domestically produced devices recovered in the conflict.
Radio-controlled improvised explosive device Images
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IED LexiconPublisher: UNMAS | Note: Supports the general improvised explosive device definition and the non-military-component basis for radio-controlled IEDs. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Systems Engineering in Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic WarfarePublisher: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory | Note: Supports RCIED background and technical details of the radio-frequency command link, battery-powered circuitry, and the broader counter-RCIED context. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Radio-Controlled, Passive Infrared-Initiated IEDsPublisher: Conflict Armament Research | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War direct conflict-use: used by Houthi-aligned forces in the Yemen Civil War; CAR documents radio-controlled improvised explosive devices used in Yemen and describes domestically produced devices recovered in the conflict. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Improvized Explosive Devices Demonstration Board.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance page for a public-domain U.S. Army training board that includes remote-controlled IEDs; used for the primary image. | Accessed: 2026-06-20IED Baghdad from munitions.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance page for a public-domain U.S. military photo of an improvised explosive device assembled from munitions; used in the gallery as a generic IED reference image. | Accessed: 2026-06-20