| Country: |
Iraq |
| Alternate Name: |
Sakr, Al Fatah |
| Class: |
SRBM |
| Basing: |
Road mobile |
| Payload: |
Single warhead |
| Warhead: |
HE, submunitions |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage |
| Range: |
150+ km |
| Status: |
Terminated |
| In Service: |
2000-2003? |
Details
The Ababil-100 is one of several missile projects that Iraq began around 1991.(1) Details about the missile are rather difficult to ascertain or confirm for at least two probable reasons: First, Iraq (prior to 2003) kept their missile projects hidden from UN weapons inspectors and frequently did not reveal details until after projects were finished or abandoned.(2) The abandoned projects might have provided some window into the progress of Iraq’s missile projects, but it would seem that the components were usually destroyed prior to any announcement of the project’s previous existence. Second, interest in Iraq’s previous weapons capabilities fell dramatically after US forces occupied the country.
There seem to be a variety of possible names and relationships between Iraq’s short range ballistic missile projects. The Ababil-100 may have been based upon a shorter range FROG-like missile called the Ababil-50.(3) The J-1 may have been a partner project, though it was reportedly abandoned in 1993 prior to project completion. The J-1 was reported to use technology from the Russian SA-2 missile.(4) The Al-Samoud missile also seems to have borrowed from the SA-2 missile. Both the Al-Samoud and the Ababil-100 projects accomplished at least their early requirements, as both types of missile were fired upon US combat forces in 2003.(5) The two missiles appear to have had very similar project requirements and ranges, but Ababil-100 is solid fueled while Al-Samoud is liquid fueled. The Ababil-100 has also been called Al Ababil and Al Fatah and has been described as a small version of the BADR-2000.(6)
Specifications for the Ababil-100 are not readily available. In order to comply with UN regulations, maximum range for the missile was supposed to be 150km. Prior to 2003, estimates suggested that the missile could travel farther than 150km – thus putting it in direct violation of international law. During the US invasion in 2003, Iraq fired several Ababil-100 missiles farther than 150km, thereby validating intelligence estimates.(7) At least one missile fired into Kuwait in 2003 flew nearly 180km. Size, weight, accuracy, and payload are unknown. One source suggests that the missile could be used as a test bed for various warhead, guidance, and control systems; so perhaps multiple versions of the missile were created.(8)
Iraq fired at least 14 short range ballistic missiles during the US invasion in 2003. These 14 were probably some combination of Al-Samoud and Ababil-100 missiles. Of those fired, 9 missiles were destroyed mid-flight by US Patriot missile and at least 5 missiles completely missed their targets and landed in the gulf or an abandoned stretch of desert.(9)
The missile was probably fired from a mobile TEL system. Some missiles may still exist, but the missile was essentially terminated with the pre-2003 regime.
Footnotes:
1. “Annex A: Status of the Material Balances in the Missile Area,” UNSCOM, Report to the Security Council, 25 January 1999, available at http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/s/990125/dis-miss.htm, accessed on 30 September 2010.
2. Ibid.
3. “Ababil-100 / Al Fatah,” Weapons of Mass Destruction, GlobalSecurity.org, 16 November 2005, available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/ababil.htm, accessed on 30 September 2010.
4. “Annex A.”
5. Richard L. Russell, Weapons Proliferation and War in the Greater Middle East: Strategic Contest, (New York: Routledge Publishers, 2005) 62; ASD PA Clarke and Maj. Gen. McChrystal, DoD News Briefing, US Department of Defense, 24 March 2003, available at http://www.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2134, accessed on 30 September 2010.
6. “Ababil-100/ Al Fatah.”
7. Michael R. Gordon, “A Nation At War: The Strategy; U.S. Says the Iraqis Are Repositioning Their Missile Sites,” New York Times, 23 March 2003. available at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/world/nation-war-strategy-us-says-iraqis-are-repositioning-their-missile-sites.html?scp=3&sq=Ababil-100&st=nyt, accessed on 30 September 2010; Edmund L. Andrews, “Judging Intelligence: Conclusions; Mixed on Missiles,” New York Times, 10 July 2004, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/world/judging-intelligence-conclusions-mixed-on-missiles.html?scp=1&sq=Ababil-100&st=nyt, accessed on 30 September 2010.
8. Anthony H. Cordesman and Ahmed Hashim, Iraq: Sanctions and Beyond, (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997) 311.
9. Russell, 62.
Syria Tests Three Scud Missiles
June 3, 2005 :: New York Times :: News
On June 1, Israeli Channel 2 television reported that Syria tested three Scud missiles on May 27. Israel’s Green Pine Radar, integrated into its own Arrow ballistic missile defense system, detected the launches from the testing site in eastern Syria. A later report, however, claims they were launched from northern Syria, near Minakh, near Aleppo. One missile flew some 250 miles to southernmost Syria, near the border with Jordan.
Update: The August 2005 issue of Jane’s Missiles & Rockets report that Israeli security sources said all three “were fired from mobile launchers near Minakh, north of Aleppo in northern Syria.”
The New York Times picked up the story today, adding that, Israel allegedly chose to report the story only after the United States chose not to do so. The Times cites Israeli sources saying that the missiles launched were one older Scud B with a range of 185 miles and two Scud D missiles, with a range of 435 miles. Israeli military officials are quoted as speculating that the tests are an act of defiance by Syrian President Assad to the United States. The tests are the first missile launches by Syria since 2001.
Update: However, Jane’s also reports that “[a]n Arab military source said the Syrians were careful to aim the missiles away from the southeastern part of the country because U.S. and Iraqi forces were attacking insurgents in al Qaim province close to Iraq’s border with Turkey.”
In addition, one missile was fired southwest toward the Mediterranean, over the Turkish province of Hatay and shed debris over two Turkish villages there. Israelis claim to have film of both the launching and breakup. It is the first time Syria has ever launched a missile over another country, and Turkey is of course also a member of NATO.
Israeli officials are also cited as observing that Syria could easily have directed the missile in a different direction, to land within its own territory. The tests came days before a scheduled election in newly unoccupied Lebanon.
Russia’s Itar Tass quotes an unidentified “Russian expert in the field of missile technology” as saying that the missile tests were of political rather than military significance. The source added a bit of background on the number and type of the Soviet-origin missiles:
“The missiles of this type, which were developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, are in the arsenals of at least 25 countries of the world. In a number of countries, including Syria, work has been carried out to modernize the missiles. In particular, the Syrian army is equipped with modernized Scud-D missiles, with a range of 700 km. According to various estimates, Damascus could have 300 to 400 such missiles,” the expert explained. He recalled that the production of missiles of this type has been developed in North Korea on the basis of Soviet-made R-300 operational-tactical missiles.
At a White House press conference, Scott McClellan today fielded a question about the test: (More »»»)
» June 3, 2005: White House press conference
» June 3, 2005: Itar Tass report on Syrian launches
» June 1, 2005: Original report of Syrian launches by Israeli television
» June 3, 2005: AP account of missile launches
» More stories on: Syria, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Ababil-100
