| Country: |
Iran |
| Associated Country: |
Russia, Syria |
| Alternate Name: |
Scud B Variant, Shehab-1 |
| Class: |
SRBM |
| Basing: |
Road Mobile |
| Length: |
10.94 m |
| Diameter: |
0.88 m |
| Launch Weight: |
5860 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 985 kg |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage liquid |
| Range: |
300 km km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
1987 |
Details
The Shahab-1 is a single stage, liquid fueled, short range callistic missile. Iran obtained this weapon in 1987 from North Korea and implemented production of the weapon in the same year. The Shahab-1 is based off of the Scud-B platform. In order to understand the caliber of the Shahab-1 it is essential to briefly review the history of the Scud.
While the names of most ballistic missiles are obscure, the "Scud" has become almost a household name. The SS-1A Scud 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 attacked 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.
While most Scuds now carry conventional explosives, the Scud was originally developed to carry a 50 kT nuclear warhead. The SS-1B ‘Scud A' (Russian designation R-11) entered into service in 1955 as a short range nuclear weapon to attack western Europe and was intended to carry a nuclear 50 kT yield warhead. The high explosive (HE) warhead was developed for export to other communist countries in the Cold War whom the Soviet Union was leery of giving nuclear strike capabilities.
The Scud-A is 10.3 m long, 0.88 m in diameter, has a launch weight of 5400 kg with a range of 190 km (118 miles), and an abysmal accuracy of 3000 m CEP. Many of the missiles remaining in service today have substantially increased accuracy, but they are still not counter-force grade by any means.
The Scud-A was soon replaced with the SS-1C ‘Scud B' The new missile had the advantage of being compatible with a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) and could thus be deployed quickly and covertly. It has built-in test equipment and is able to aim and fire the missile autonomously, though a separate command and control vehicle typically controls the targeting and firing.
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. The Scud missiles used by Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991 were largely the Iraqis' 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. Libya paraded in 1999 with 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.
In addition to the very high production level of the Scud missiles, a myriad of variations and additions exist for the Scud platform. Several different warheads were developed for the Scud B missiles including nuclear yields between 5 and 70 kT, chemical agents, and conventional high explosives. The Iranian Scud-B is 10.94 m long, 0.88 m in diameter and has a launch weight of 5860 kg, with a range of 300 km (186 miles) with accuracy of 450 m CEP. A typical ‘Scud B' takes approximately one hour to finish a single launch sequence. It is important to see how this was then implemented into the Iranian system we see today.
The Iranian involvement with the ‘Scud' missile is significant. The Iranian government is reported to have made its first test launch of a ballistic missile in 1988, which was believed to be a ‘Scud B' variant with a range of 320 km (199 miles) and a payload of 985 kg, developed with the assistance of either North Korea or the People's Republic of China (PRC).
The weapon system was publicly tested again in 1998 in the Caspian Sea. This test is very important to the study of Iran's ballistic missile program. The Shahab-1 that was tested in the Caspian, was tested from its' TEL, on board a commercial vessel. This constitutes a different kind of missile threat to the United States and coastal range countries. The Scud then has the possibility of being covertly brought adjacent to a coastline and launched without notice. Then, as quickly as the weapon fired, it could return to covert status. This method of delivery brings the weapon in closer range, which improves its accuracy, and decreases its chance of being spotted by radar. Due to the flight time of the missile, it could be delivered without major radar signal.1
Iran has used the Shahab-1 missile system in military operations on more than one occasion. In the Iran-Iraq war, in 1985, Iran employed 13 Shahab-1s at Iraq, 26 in '86 and ‘87 and 76 missiles in 1988. At the close of this period, reports indicate that Iran's Shahab-1 ordinance levels required them to invest in more. Four missiles were fired from Iran into Iraq, at what was classified as a guerilla base in 1994. In 1999, reports indicate eight missiles were fired at targets in Iraq between April and November.
In 2001, reports dictate nearly 70 missiles of varying class and designation were fired into Iraq from Iran. Iran is reported to have purchased a number of Syrian and 120 North Korean ‘Scud B' missiles. United States Air Force reports from 1996 indicate that number could be in the 200s.2 Also, the same report implicates North Korea in the sale of approximately 170 Scud Cs to Iran. The precise number of these missiles, however, is quite uncertain. Several factors contribute to the uncertainty of Iran's arsenal. Iran tends to be extremely secretive and often redesignates systems without warning or notification. Also, Iran has several production facilities which build their own variants of the original systems purchased from North Korea or China. Therefore, the exact numbers of domestically produced, and foreign bought missile systems is unclear.
Reports confirm that Iran has the capability of producing these weapons in great quantity. Their major contracts for these particular missile systems have been given to Iran Aerospace Industries (IAI). Reports indicate with some certainty that due to the amount of weapons displayed, used, and available for operation, that IAI has the capability of producing these weapons in quantities necessary for domestic and exported use. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Iran exported Scud-B missiles to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, and that Iran and Syria supported a missile manufacturing capability in Sudan. Further reports indicate that Iran has the ability to manufacture North Korean Scud-C variants with a range of 550 km (342 miles) and a payload of 500 kg, as well as shared this capability with Iran. The ‘Scud B' variant is designated the Shahab 1.3
Footnote
- Kenneth R. Timmerman, "Countdown to Crisis," Crown Publishing Group, ©2005, 315-318
- Bill Gertz, "Iran's Regional Powerhouse," Air Force Magazine Online, http://www.afa.org/magazine/June1996/0696iran.asp, June 1996, Accessed on 9 June 2008.
- Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane's Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane's Information Group, January 2007), 70.
- "Lebanese Al-Manar TV aire two part documentary on Iran's military capabilities," BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political,19 May 2008, www.bbc.co.uk/ , Accessed 6 June 2008.
- "Iran's Ballistic Missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs Hearing," US Government Printing Office, Washington 21 September 2000, http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2000_hr/hr_092100.html, Accessed on 6 June 2008.
- Anthony Cordesman, Martin Keliber, "Iran's Military Forces and Warfighting capabilities: The Threat in the Northern Gulf," 2007, Praeger Security International, http://0-psi.praeger.com/, Accessed 6 June 2008
