Scud missile
A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies. The Russian names for the missile are the R-11, and the R-17 'Elbrus'. The name Scud has been widely used to refer to these missiles and the wide variety of derivative variants developed in other countries based on the Soviet design.
Scud missiles have been used in combat since the 1970s, mostly in wars in the Middle East. They became familiar to the Western public during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Iraq fired dozens at Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Russian service, it has been replaced by the 9K720 Iskander.
Development
The first use of the term Scud was in the NATO name SS-1b Scud-A, applied to the R-11 Zemlya ballistic missile. The earlier R-1 missile had carried the NATO name SS-1 Scunner, but was of a very different design, almost directly a copy of the German V-2 rocket. The R-11 used technology gained from the V-2 as well, but was a new design, smaller and differently shaped than the V-2 and R-1 weapons. The R-11 was developed by the Korolyev OKB and entered service in 1957. The most revolutionary innovation in the R-11 was the engine, designed by A. M. Isaev. Far simpler than the V-2's multi-chamber design, and employing an anti-oscillation baffle to prevent chugging, it was a forerunner to the larger engines used in Soviet launch vehicles.Further developed variants were the R-17 'Elbrus / SS-1c Scud-B in 1961 and the SS-1d Scud-C in 1965, both of which could carry either a conventional high-explosive, a 5- to 80-kiloton thermonuclear, or a chemical warhead. The SS-1e Scud-D' variant developed in the 1980s can deliver a terminally guided warhead capable of greater precision.
All models are long and in diameter. They are propelled by a single liquid-fuel rocket engine burning kerosene and corrosion-inhibited red fuming nitric acid with a mixture of 50% triethylamine and 50% xylidine as liquid igniter in all models.
The missile reaches a maximum speed of Mach 5.
Variants
Scud-A
The first of the "Scud" series, designated R-11 originated in a 1951 requirement for a ballistic missile with similar performance to the German V-2 rocket. The R-11 was developed by engineer Viktor Makeev, who was then working in the OKB-1, headed by Sergey Korolev. It first flew on 18 April 1953, was fitted with an Isayev engine using kerosene and nitric acid as propellant. On 13 December 1953, a production order was passed with SKB-385 in Zlatoust, a factory dedicated to producing long-range rockets. In June 1955, Makeev was appointed chief designer of the SKB-385 to oversee the program and, in July, the R-11 was formally accepted into military service. The definitive R-11M, designed to carry a nuclear warhead, was accepted officially into service on 1 April 1958. The launch system was placed on an IS-2 chassis and received the GRAU designation 8K11; only 100 Scud-A launchers were built.The R-11M had a maximum range of 270 km, but when carrying a nuclear warhead, this was reduced to 150 km. Its purpose was strictly as a mobile nuclear strike vector, giving the Soviet Army the ability to hit European targets from forward areas, armed with a nuclear warhead with an estimated yield of 50 kilotons.
A naval variant, the R-11FM was first tested in February 1955, and was first launched from a converted Project 611 submarine in September of the same year. While the initial design was done by Korolev's OKB-1, the program was transferred to Makeev's SKB-385 in August 1955. It became operational in 1959 and was deployed onboard Project 611 and Project 629 submarines. During its service, 77 launches were conducted, of which 59 were successful.
Scud-B
The successor to the R-11, the R-17, renamed R-300 in the 1970s, was the most prolific of the series, with a production run estimated at 7,000. It served in 32 countries and four countries besides the Soviet Union manufactured copied versions. The first launch was conducted in 1961, and it entered service in 1964.The R-17 was an improved version of the R-11. It could carry nuclear, chemical, conventional or fragmentation weapons. At first, the Scud-B was carried on a tracked transporter erector launcher similar to that of the Scud-A, designated 2P19, but this was not successful and a wheeled replacement was designed by the Titan Central Design Bureau, becoming operational in 1967. The new MAZ-543 vehicle was officially designated 9P117 Uragan. The launch sequence could be conducted autonomously, but was usually directed from a separate command vehicle. The missile is raised to a vertical position by means of hydraulically powered cranes, which usually takes four minutes, while the total sequence lasts about one hour.
Scud-C
The Makeyev OKB also worked on an extended-range version of the R-17, known in the West as SS-1d Scud-C, that was first launched from Kapustin Yar in 1965. Its range was brought up to 500–600 km, but at the cost of a greatly reduced accuracy and warhead size. Eventually, the advent of more modern types in the same category, such as the TR-1 Temp, made the Scud-C redundant, and it apparently did not enter service with the Soviet armed forces.Scud-D
The R-17 VTO project was an attempt to enhance the accuracy of the R-17. The Central Scientific Research Institute for Automation and Hydraulics began work on the project in 1967, using an optical guidance system where a photograph of the target was inserted into a holder. This method was impractical, as the system was only effective in clear weather and it was difficult to take the proper photographs under field conditions. The Soviet artillery troops were not favorable towards the concept due to those limitations.In 1974, the VTO programme was revisited to take advantage of miniaturized computer hardware, where the guidance system would rely on a digitized image. This also made it possible to reassign targets from the missile warhead's computer library. The warhead was tested on an Su-17 in 1975 and the first test launch was conducted on 29 September 1979, where the missile hit within a few meters of the target. Development continued through the 1980s, and the design was modified to have a separating warhead and to have it make terminal corrections before impact. The first two test launches of this version in 1984 failed; the optical lens' inner surface on the missile's nose suffered from dust buildup and this was corrected after redesign work.
The system was accepted into initial service as the 9K720 Aerofon in 1989. However, by this time, more advanced weapons were in use, such as the OTR-21 Tochka and the R-400 Oka, and the Scud-D was not acquired by the Soviet Armed Forces. Instead it was proposed for export as an upgrade for Scud-B users, in the 1990s.
Unlike previous Scud versions, the 9K720 had a warhead that separated from the missile's body, and was fitted with its own terminal guidance system. With a TV camera fitted in the nose, the system could compare the target area with data from an onboard computer library. In this way, it was thought to attain a circular error probable of 50 m.
Characteristics
Al Hussein and Iraqi variants
Hwasong-5/Shahab-1
North Korea obtained its first Scud-Bs from Egypt in 1979 or 1980. These missiles were reverse engineered, and reproduced using North Korean infrastructure, including the 125 factory at Pyongyang, a research and development institute at Sanum-dong and the Musudan-ri Launch Facility. The first prototypes were completed in 1984, and designated Hwasong-5. They were exact replicas of the R-17Es obtained from Egypt. The first test flights occurred in April 1984, but the first version saw only limited production, and no operational deployment, as its purpose was only to validate the production process.Production of the definitive version began at a slow rate in 1985. The type incorporated several minor improvements over the original Soviet design. The range was increased by 10 to 15 percent and it could carry High Explosive or cluster chemical warheads. Throughout the production cycle, until it was phased out in favour of the Hwasong-6 in 1989, the DPRK manufacturers are thought to have carried out small enhancements, in particular to the guidance system.
In 1985, Iran acquired 90 to 100 Hwasong-5 missiles from North Korea. A production line was also established in Iran, where the Hwasong-5 was produced as the Shahab-1.
Hwasong-6/Shahab-2
The Hwasong-6 was first test-flown in June 1990, and entered full-scale production the same year, or in 1991, until it was superseded by the Rodong-1. It features an improved guidance system, a range of 500 km, but had its payload reduced to 770 kg, though the dimensions are identical to the original Scud. Due to difficulties in procuring MAZ-543 TELs, the North Koreans had to produce a local copy. By 1999, North Korea was estimated to have produced 600 to 1,000 Hwasong-6 missiles, of which 25 served for testing, 300 to 500 were exported, and 300 to 600 are used by the Korean People's Army.The Hwasong-6 was exported to Iran where it is known as the Shahab-2, and to Syria, where it is manufactured under license with Chinese assistance. Also, according to SIPRI, 150 Scud-C were exported to Syria in 1991–96, 5 to Libya in 1999, 45 to Yemen in 2001–02.
Hwasong-7/Shahab-3
The Nodong, was the first North Korean missile to feature important modifications from the Scud design. Development began in 1988, and the first missile was launched in 1990, but it apparently exploded on its launch pad. A second test was carried out in May 1993 successfully.The main characteristics of the Rodong are a range of 1000 km and a CEP estimated at 2,000–4,000 m, giving the North Koreans the ability to strike Japan. The missile is substantially larger than the Hwasong series, and its Isayev 9D21 engine was upgraded with help from Makeyev OKB. Some assistance came also from China and Ukraine while a new TEL was designed using an Italian Iveco truck chassis and an Austrian crane. The rapidity with which the Rodong was designed and exported after just two tests came as a surprise for many Western observers, and led to some speculation that it was in fact based on a cancelled Soviet project from the Cold War period, but this has not been proven.
Iran is known to have financed much of the Rodong program, and in return is allowed to produce the missile, as the Shahab-3. While the first prototypes may have been acquired as early as 1992, production began only in 2001, with assistance from Russia. The Rodong has also been exported to Egypt and Libya.