Direct proof of use
Tomahawk use in the 2014 Yemen Civil War is documented through the U.S. October 2016 strike on Houthi-controlled coastal radar sites. The Pentagon announced that U.S. forces struck three radar sites on Yemen's Red Sea coast after recent missile launches threatened USS Mason and other vessels operating in international waters in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb.
USNI News reported the Tomahawk-specific launch detail: USS Nitze fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at three radar installations along Yemen's Red Sea coast north of Bab el-Mandeb at about 4 a.m. local time on October 13, 2016. The same report quoted the U.S. assessment that the targets were destroyed and later cited the Chief of Naval Operations describing the action as a five-missile strike against the radars controlling coastal-defense cruise-missile shots.
Sources: Pentagon Radar Site Strike Statement, DOD Yemen Radar Sites Briefing, USNI Nitze Tomahawk Strike
Timeline
The strike followed a short sequence of Red Sea maritime attacks in early October 2016. U.S. statements tied the radar targets to recent missile launches that threatened USS Mason and other vessels, while USNI placed Nitze, Mason, and Ponce off Yemen after the attack on HSV-2 Swift and subsequent anti-ship missile engagements involving Mason.
The Tomahawk launch occurred late on October 12 Eastern Daylight Time and early on October 13 local time in Yemen. U.S. officials described it as a limited self-defense strike to protect personnel, ships, and freedom of navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb passage.
Sources: Pentagon Radar Site Strike Statement, DOD Yemen Radar Sites Briefing, USNI Nitze Tomahawk Strike
Narrative
In Yemen-war service, the Tomahawk appeared as a U.S. naval land-attack weapon used from an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer rather than as a weapon held by Yemeni combatants. The documented target set was coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen's Red Sea coast, connected by U.S. officials to missile launches threatening U.S. and other vessels near the Bab el-Mandeb.
The strike role was long-range precision attack and force protection. The Pentagon release did not name Tomahawk, but it directly documented the U.S. strikes, the Houthi-controlled coastal radar targets, and the stated self-defense rationale. USNI supplied the weapon identification, launch platform, timing, and reported five-missile count, while the DOD news briefing connected the sea-launched cruise-missile strikes to USS Nitze and the Yemen conflict context.
Public sourcing is stronger for the launch, platform, targets, and U.S. rationale than for post-strike site-level battle damage. The most supportable conflict-use claim is that USS Nitze fired Tomahawk cruise missiles in October 2016 to strike three Houthi-controlled coastal radar sites after missile attacks threatened U.S. ships near the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb.
Sources: Pentagon Radar Site Strike Statement, DOD Yemen Radar Sites Briefing, USNI Nitze Tomahawk Strike
