| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
R-17 |
| Class: |
SRBM |
| Length: |
11.25 m |
| Diameter: |
0.88 m |
| Launch Weight: |
5900 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 985 kg |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 5-70 kT, HE, chemical |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage liquid |
| Range: |
300 km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
1962 |
Details
Russian Designation: R-17
While the names of most ballistic missiles are obscure, the ‘Scud’ has become a household name. The SS-1A ‘Scunner’ was designed a short time after the end of World War II by captured German scientists and is based upon the Nazi V-2 rocket which was used to attack London in the Second World War. In essence, the Scud is the AK-47 of the missile world: reliable, simple, and ubiquitous. The missile was produced in huge quantities and not even the Russians know exactly how many they built, let alone the number copied by foreign companies.
Although Scuds carry conventional explosives, the Scud was originally developed for the purpose of carrying a nuclear warhead. The SS-1B ‘Scud A’ entered into service in 1955 and was equipped with a 50 kT nuclear warhead as a short-range nuclear weapon to attack Western Europe. At the same time, the Soviets also developed a high explosive (HE) warhead for export to other communist nations that the Soviet Union was leery of giving nuclear strike capabilities.
Yet despite its original role as a nuclear weapon, the ‘Scud B’ is a tactical system typically used to bombard enemy positions and cities. The accuracy of the system is far too low for deployment against military units, specifically due to the lack of submunitions. The system is only useful if deployed against large targets such as manufacturing complexes, cities, or troop staging areas. In the case of the Soviets, the ‘Scud B’ was equipped with nuclear warheads to enable tactical deployment against military units in the case of an escalating conflict. The placement on a Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicle allows for mobility and for deployment on the battlefield.
The ‘Scud B’ is 11.25 m long, 0.88 m in diameter, and has a launch weight of 5,900 kg. It has a range of 300 km (186 miles) with accuracy of 450 m CEP. Several different warheads were developed for the ‘Scud B’ missiles including nuclear yields between 5 and 70 kT, chemical agents, and conventional high explosive. A typical ‘Scud B’ takes approximately one hour to finish a single launch sequence. It uses an inertial guidance system and a single-stage liquid propellant engine.
The SS-1C ‘Scud B’ was deployed in 1962. Though the system is obsolete and has been replaced by new designs in Russia, it is still one of the most common and widely deployed missile systems in the world. By 1965, the new ‘Scud B’ missile was operational in many European and Middle Eastern counties. In 1973, Egypt fired a small number of the ‘Scud B’ missiles against Israel. Over 600 ‘Scud B’ and North Korean ‘Scud B’ variants were fired by Iran and Iraq between 1980 and 1988. Over 2,000 ‘Scud B,’ and possibly a small number of ‘Scud C’ missiles, are thought to have been used in Afghanistan.
During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Iraq deployed its own improved variant of the ‘Scud B,’ the Al Hussein. There were also a small number of ‘Scud’ missiles used in the 1994 civil war in Yemen and by Russia in Chechnya in 1996. A Russian report suggests that there were four ‘Scud B’ TEL and approximately 100 missiles in Afghanistan, some with the Taliban and some with Massoud’s forces, and could have been possibly passed to other various terrorist organizations. In 1998, Ukraine was reported to have three brigades with ‘Scud B’ missiles and a total of 55 missiles in service. In 1999, Libya paraded some 20 refurbished ‘Scud B’ TEL vehicles with missiles. It is thought that this was done with the assistance from North Korea.
‘Scud B’ missiles have been exported to: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Egypt, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Libya, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Syria, UAE, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Yemen. Unconfirmed reports between 1996 and 2000 have suggested that ‘Scud B’ missiles have been purchased by Armenia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Pakistan, Peru, and the Sudan. These missiles may have been built in the former Soviet Union. It has been reported that as many as 7,000 ‘Scud’ missiles may have been built in Russia and that ‘Scud B’ missiles and improved variants have been built in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Syria. Consequently, it is difficult to identify the source and quantity of missile supplies.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 127-130.
Russia Upgrading Missile Defense Command Center
December 6, 2004 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Channel One television in Moscow reports that Russia is upgrading the “Elbrus” supercomputer which serves the “Don-2N” control center for the missile defense system which is located around Moscow. The newer technologies reportedly replace a decade-old system which took up an entire floor of a building.
While a relatively minor upgrade, this story confirms once again that Russia is serious about maintaining and improving its ballistic missile defenses. On November 29, Russia conducted an intercept test, which was successful.
Incidentally, Elbrus is also the name of an early Russian ballistic missile which has come to be proliferated around the world, the R-17 Scud-B.
The Don-2N center reportedly includes a phased array radar and a number of interceptors. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russian Missile Defenses
» Missile details: SS-1C 'Scud B'
