Type 77 heavy machine gun

Conflict Usage

Yemen Civil War

Side: Yemeni government and coalition forcesRole: Crew-served anti-aircraft and ground fire supportair defense

Open-source references document 12.7 mm Type 77 guns in the pre-war Yemeni Army inventory and later report Chinese Type 85/W85 family heavy machine guns used in Yemen's civil war by regular and insurgent forces; this entry treats the Yemen attribution conservatively as Yemeni Army inventory rather than a precise unit-level sighting.

Type 77 heavy machine gun Images

Related Weapon Systems

Air DefenseMisagh-2 MANPADSMan-portable infrared-guided surface-to-air missileThe Misagh-2 is an Iranian shoulder-fired MANPADS associated with the Chinese QW-series design line. In the Yemen Civil War, specialist open-source reporting has identified Misagh-2 systems in Houthi-aligned possession, giving small units a portable short-range threat to helicopters, UAVs, and other low-flying aircraft.

Infantry Weapons9M113 KonkursSACLOS wire-guided anti-tank guided missileThe 9M113 Konkurs, NATO reporting name AT-5 Spandrel, is a Soviet wire-guided anti-tank guided missile family built for infantry launchers and vehicle mounts such as BMP-series vehicles and the BRDM-2-based 9P148. Its SACLOS guidance, 135 mm missile body, and 4 km class engagement range kept it useful after the Cold War, including documented employment in Ukraine and Armenian/Artsakh 9P148 Konkurs losses during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh fighting.

Infantry Weapons9M133 KornetLaser beam-riding anti-tank guided missile systemThe 9M133 Kornet is a Russian heavy anti-tank guided missile system using laser beam-riding guidance and tandem HEAT or thermobaric warheads. Developed by KBP as a portable and vehicle-integrated ATGM family, it appears in recent conflicts as a Russian-origin anti-armor weapon documented with state forces and non-state armed groups, including captured examples in Ukrainian service.

Infantry Weapons9M14 MalyutkaWire-guided anti-tank guided missileThe 9M14 Malyutka, known to NATO as the AT-3 Sagger, is a Soviet wire-guided anti-tank missile developed by Kolomna KBM and widely exported from the 1960s onward. In Yemen, open-source reporting identifies Malyutka/AT-3 missiles in Houthi-aligned stocks, giving the movement a legacy guided anti-armor weapon alongside newer ATGM types.

Infantry WeaponsAK-pattern assault rifleSelective-fire assault rifle familyAK-pattern assault rifles are Kalashnikov-family small arms derived from the Soviet AK-47 and later AKM pattern, usually chambered in 7.62 x 39 mm for the rifles documented in Yemen interdiction reporting. In the Yemen Civil War, official U.S. reporting has repeatedly tied AK-47 and Type 56-family rifle shipments to illicit maritime supply routes from Iran toward Houthi-aligned forces.

Infantry WeaponsAKM7.62x39mm assault rifleThe AKM is the stamped-receiver modernization of the Soviet Kalashnikov assault rifle, chambered for 7.62x39mm and built around a long-stroke gas piston and rotating bolt. Its lower production burden, broad Warsaw Pact and licensed manufacture, and large legacy stocks keep it visible in modern conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas War, where AP reported Hamas fighters using AK-47 assault rifles in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack and in the wider Kalashnikov rifle family.

Sources