New Delhi: Saudi Arabia is suspected to have fired a China-made missile at the Marib governorate in Yemen during fighting with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. If found to be true, it would mark Saudi Arabia’s very first use of ballistic missiles in combat.
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts and international experts reviewed purported footage of debris and claim to have identified the distinctive markings and components of the China-made Dongfeng 15 (DF-15A) tactical ballistic missile. Suspected usage of the DF-15 come amidst fresh escalation in Yemen between Houthi forces and Saudi-backed forces.
ThePrint has not verified the footage independently.
The DF-15A is a road-mobile, short-range ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. With a range of 900 km and rear control fins, it can carry a payload of up to 600 kg.
Saudi Arabia’s first known defence purchases from China can be traced back to 1987-88, when it procured a batch of DF-3 medium-range missile launchers amidst the backdrop of the tail end of the Iran-Iraq War. These launchers were later displayed by the kingdom in 2014. Riyadh acquired the more accurate, solid-fueled DF-21 missiles around 2007.
Saudi Arabia has also bought armed drones from China, including the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV Wing Loong-2. A major deal was reported in 2026 to manufacture its successor drone, the ‘Wing Loong-3’, locally at a rate of 48 per year.
Saudi Arabia has in the past also acquired artillery and anti-drone systems from China, like the PLZ-45 155mm self-propelled artillery systems around 2007.
Silent Hunter, a laser-based, soft-kill anti-drone system used to disable small flying drones, has also been observed in Saudi service. It is a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) optimised to track and destroy low-flying, slow-moving drones (speeds under 60 m/s).
Saudi Arabia is also facing a strategic pincer crisis where it is caught between Houthi forces in the South and drone strikes from Iraq in the North by Iran-backed proxy groups.
On Tuesday evening, Saudi Arabia claimed it shot down a Houthi drone in southern Mecca. This was the second time military engagement was reported at Islam’s holiest site. The first occurred in 2017 between the same parties. The Houthis have denied targeting Mecca.
However, they did claim to have downed a Saudi Royal Air Force F-15 Wednesday over Marib. Houthi forces reportedly anticipated the coming search-and-rescue mission to retrieve the USD 110 million jet, forcing them to retreat.
According to Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, their ground units lay in wait. As the Saudi rescue formations flooded the Marib airspace looking for the wreckage, the Houthis opened fire with secondary, locally modified surface-to-air missile systems.
Ashwin Shekhar is an alum of ThePrint School of Journalism, currently interning with ThePrint.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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