On October 28, the media wing of the Houthis released a video showing one of the tests conducted on the locally-made Badir-1P guided artillery rocket, which was revealed by the Yemeni Missiles Force a day earlier. During the test, the guided rocket supposedly managed to hit an empty building with high accuracy.
A second video released by the Houthis media wing shows the Yemeni Missiles Forces launching a Badir-1P at a camp of the Sudanese military on the western coast of Yemen. In the video, which was taken by a mini drone, the guided artillery rocket hit the center of the targeted camp.
According to experts, the Badir-1P is an upgraded copy of the older Badir-1 artillery rocket, which was revealed on March 22. The new copy is likely guided with internal navigation system (INS) and a civilian-grade satellite navigation system such as GPS or GLONASS.
The videos revealed that the Badir-1 rocket family shares many similarities with the Iranian Fajr-5 rocket. Previously it was thought that the Badir-1 rocket is a copy of the Fajir-3. However, the first up-close photos of the Yemeni rocket show that it is much bigger.
Fajr-5c (above) and Badir-1P
The Saudi-led coalition believes that the Houthis are developing and manufacturing their rockets and missiles with direct help from Iran. This is among the main sources of tension between the two countries.
