Direct proof of use
The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen reported that Houthi-Saleh forces continued to use small and medium unmanned aerial vehicles in 2017 for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. The same report identified the Rased UAV as the Houthi-Saleh designation for an aircraft that was almost certainly the commercially available Skywalker X-8.
Annex 39 of the UN report listed three downed or crashed Rased UAVs seized by the Saudi-led coalition in 2017: one at Nihm on 25 March, and two more at Sana'a and Kirsh in Lahij on 20 September. CSIS later summarized the type as a Skywalker X-8 used by Houthi fighters for battlefield surveillance.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, S/2018/594, The Missile War in Yemen
Timeline
The dated public record begins in 2017, when the UN Panel documented three seized Rased examples. The first listed example was downed at Nihm on 25 March 2017, followed by examples at Sana'a and Kirsh, Lahij, on 20 September 2017.
The UN Panel's January 2018 final report connected those examples to the Skywalker X-8 commercial airframe through design comparison and dimensional analysis. PAX's 2020 review placed Rased within the Houthis' broader drone use from 2014 onward and described rebranded Skywalker X8 drones in Yemen as mainly used for ISR missions.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, S/2018/594, Violent Skies
Role in the conflict
Rased filled the commercial-airframe reconnaissance tier of the Houthi UAV inventory. PAX described Chinese commercial drones such as the Skywalker X8 as frequently appearing in online footage and social media postings from Yemen, rebranded by the Houthis as Rased models and used mainly for ISR. CSIS described the same type as a battlefield-surveillance drone rather than a one-way attack system.
The UN evidence separates Rased use from larger Houthi attack UAVs. The report treated small UAVs such as the X-8 Skywalker as commercially available systems with military utility for surveillance and target planning, while discussing medium UAVs and explosive attacks separately. For Rased specifically, the documented Yemen record is downed or crashed reconnaissance UAVs and source-backed battlefield-surveillance use, not confirmed strike use.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, S/2018/594, The Missile War in Yemen, Violent Skies
