SCUD | |
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Scud missile on TEL vehicle, National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria.
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Type | Tactical ballistic missile |
Place of origin | Soviet Union |
Service history | |
In service | 1957–present Scud A 1964–present Scud B 1965–present Scud C 1989–present Scud D |
Used by | see Operators |
Wars | Yom Kippur War, Iran-Iraq War, Persian Gulf War, Afghan Civil War (1989–92), Yemeni Civil War (1994), First Chechen War, Second Chechen War, Libyan Civil War, Syrian Civil War, Yemeni Civil War (2015-present), Saudi-led intervention in Yemen (2015-present) |
Specifications | |
Weight | 4,400 kg (9,700 lb) Scud A 5,900 kg (13,000 lb) Scud B 6,400 kg (14,100 lb) Scud C 6,500 kg (14,300 lb) Scud D |
Length | 11.25 m (36.9 ft) |
Diameter | 0.88 m (2 ft 11 in) |
Warhead | Conventional high-explosive, Fragmentation, Nuclear 5 to 80 kiloton, Chemical VX warhead |
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Engine | Single-stage liquid-fuel |
Operational
range |
180 km (110 mi) Scud A 300 km (190 mi) Scud B 600 km (370 mi) Scud C 700 km (430 mi) Scud D |
Speed | Mach 5, 1.7 km/s (1.1 mi/s) |
Guidance
system |
inertial guidance, Scud-D adds DSMAC terminal guidance |
Accuracy | 3,000 m (9,800 ft) Scud A 450 m (1,480 ft) Scud B 700 m (2,300 ft) Scud C 50 m (160 ft) Scud D |
Scud is 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 "Scud" which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies. The Russian names for the missile are the R-11 (the first version), and the R-17 (later R-300) Elbrus (later developments). 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.
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 (later R-300) 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 (thickened VX) warhead. The SS-1e Scud-D variant developed in the 1980s can deliver a terminally guided warhead capable of greater precision.