Direct proof of use
Scud-C use in the 2014 Yemen Civil War is documented through the Houthi-aligned takeover of Yemen's pre-war missile forces and subsequent cross-border launches into Saudi Arabia. The UN Panel of Experts reported that Yemen's pre-conflict Missile Defense Command had procured Hwasong-6, or Scud-C-type, missiles before the war, and that the 5th and 6th missile brigades aligned themselves with Houthi-Saleh forces during hostilities in early 2015.
CSIS summarizes the launch record as including a first confirmed Scud-C launch on June 29, 2015, with an earlier Scud-C launch on June 6, 2015 considered likely. The UN Panel's 2018 report likewise states that the first confirmed Scud-C-type short-range ballistic missile launch against Saudi Arabia took place on June 29, 2015, and that probable Scud-C-type attacks continued until July 26, 2017.
Later evidence narrows some extended-range border attacks to modified Scud-C/Hwasong-6 missiles rather than to newer Burkan-2H systems. Breaking Defense, summarizing UN Panel findings, reports that a Houthi missile used against Najran in May 2017 was a Hwasong-6 that flew 611 km. The UN Panel assessed the July 26, 2017 Ta'if missile as highly probably a Scud-C/Hwasong-6 type with minor weight-saving modifications, and assessed other listed over-600 km attacks as highly likely locally modified Scud-C/Hwasong-6 missiles.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts on Yemen 2018, The Missile War in Yemen, Houthi Terror Scuds Now Threaten Most of Saudi Arabia
Timeline
The Scud-C/Hwasong-6 evidence begins with possession and fielding. The UN Panel reported that Yemen's pre-war missile force had procured Hwasong-6 missiles, and CSIS notes estimates of Yemen's pre-war Scud-C stockpile ranging from 25 to 90 missiles, including a North Korean delivery in December 2002.
The first sourced launch sequence falls in June 2015, shortly after the Saudi-led coalition had targeted Houthi and allied missile capabilities. CSIS identifies the June 6 Khamis Mushait launch as the first known shot of the missile war and says it was likely a Scud-C, while both CSIS and the UN Panel identify June 29, 2015 as the first confirmed Scud-C-type launch against Saudi Arabia.
By 2017, the strongest Scud-C/Hwasong-6 evidence concerns modified missiles used at longer ranges near the limits of the type. The UN Panel's technical annex listed confirmed Houthi-Saleh Scud-C launches beyond 600 km and concluded that the 2017 Ta'if missile and other listed attacks were locally modified Scud-C/Hwasong-6 missiles, not the separate extended-range Burkan-2H design.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts on Yemen 2018, The Missile War in Yemen
Narrative
In Yemen-war service, the Scud-C belonged to the Houthi-aligned long-range strike inventory inherited from the Yemeni state rather than to a newly introduced front-line ground weapon. Its documented role was cross-border ballistic attack against Saudi targets, especially in the early missile-war period when Houthi-aligned forces were using surviving pre-war Scud-family stocks.
The record needs to be separated from broader references to generic Scud launches. Contemporary reporting and later datasets often used Scud as a family label, while technical reports sometimes distinguish Scud-B, Scud-C/Hwasong-6, locally modified Scud-C/Hwasong-6, Burkan-1, and Burkan-2H. The Washington Institute summarizes the early Houthi stock as including four surviving pre-war R-17 Scud-B or Hwasong-6 missiles fired into Saudi Arabia, which supports Scud-family use but does not assign each early launch to Scud-C alone.
The Scud-C/Hwasong-6 evidence also marks a transition point in the Houthi missile campaign. UN investigators found that some missiles known to be in Houthi-Saleh possession were modified for limited range extension, while also concluding that the later Burkan-2H was not simply a modified Scud-C/Hwasong-6. This page therefore treats Scud-C as an inherited and modified short-range ballistic missile used in cross-border attacks, with Burkan-2H and other later systems covered separately when sources identify those weapons.
Sources: The Missile War in Yemen, UN Panel of Experts on Yemen 2018, Yemen's Southern Hezbollah
