Former Yemeni separatists, due to the lack of heavy equipment, are rearming armored vehicles with naval guns and other available weapons.

The pertinent equipment was shown at the parade of the 5th Presidential Guard Brigade of Yemen.

Among the already familiar Soviet T-55 tanks, BMP-1 infantry combat vehicles, as well as traditional for the Middle East vehicles with large-caliber machine guns, moving in a column under the flags of South Yemen, a significant number of armored vehicles armed with naval artillery were shown.

In particular, the fighters of the former Transitional Council brought to the west several old Soviet BTR-152 armored personnel carriers, on which powerful six-barrel automatic AK-630 artillery systems were mounted, capable of firing up to 400 thirty-millimeter shells in six seconds.

The soldiers of the 5th Brigade also showed a South African armored vehicle of the Mamba family with a block of six guides from the Soviet BM-14 140mm multiple launch rocket system mounted on the top.

Such rocket launchers were installed on medium-sized amphibious assault ships of the Project 770, which were transferred to Yemen from the USSR in the amount of three units.

One of the main reasons for the use of naval artillery by the 5th Brigade is the lack of supply from government forces, as well as the territorial proximity to the port city of Aden, which used to be the capital of South Yemen and where a significant part of the Yemeni navy was based.

The Yemeni Navy itself is currently in a deplorable state, as the basis of its ship fleet are old Soviet missile boats, minesweepers and landing craft. It was they who fell under the technical “cannibalism” of the Ground Forces.

However, the vehicles shown at the parade do not exhaust the topic of Yemen’s rethinking of naval artillery. Earlier, the photos of a BTR-60 armored personnel carrier with a twin 30 mm AK-230 automatic cannon mounted on the roof were also posted online.

The double-barreled gun, which is difficult to recognize without the characteristic protective cap and pedestal, could have been borrowed from the previously mentioned landing craft or Yemeni Project 205 Mosquito missile boats, which also carried them.

During the modernization, in addition to lightening the design, Yemeni craftsmen also redesigned the ammunition system to a more primitive supply of shells from boxes.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported on a “pirated copy” of the Ukrainian armored vehicle Varta made in Syria, which had been captured from government forces by opposition forces.