Scud is a rocket of rogue states and terrorists?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Soviet ballistic missiles, developed and put into service in the fifties, are still worrying the command and political leadership of Western countries today. Decades have passed, other, more modern systems have long since taken their places at the starting positions, new ones are being developed, and the media continue to mention the word "Scud".

The R-11 Elbrus missile was first successfully launched in 1953, the Soviet armed forces received it in 1957. According to modern concepts, its device is very simple, the head part was not separated, the control devices were placed between the oxidizer and fuel tanks. The accuracy of the hit left much to be desired, which was partly offset by a powerful high-explosive charge and the fact that unburned fuel created an additional damaging effect.

Soon this weapon received its symbol SS-1, or Scud, in NATO. The rocket was supplied to countries that at the turn of the 50s and 60s were considered friendly and even allied. Iran, Iraq, Egypt, North Korea, Syria, Libya, having received the latest weapons for those times,became the owners of a weighty argument in disputes with neighbors. Both Yemen (North and South) fired at each other with Soviet R-17s and R-11s. Moreover, engineering personnel, again trained in their majority in Soviet universities, began to modernize, improve and study the possibilities of organizing the production of similar own samples.

What is so terrible about this old and imperfect "Scud"? The rocket has become so popular in countries that do not have high scientific and technical potential for two main reasons.

The first of these is the simplicity and reliability characteristic of all Soviet military equipment. North Korean communists, Iranian fundamentalists, and Egyptian nationalists were able to figure out the structure of the main nodes. But this was not the main reason.

There are few modern weapons in the world that would be as secretive as the Scud. The missile is transported on a platform, it is difficult to detect it, and it is even more difficult to bring it down. During Operation Desert Storm, despite the overwhelming air supremacy of the US Air Force, they failed to destroy any of the launchers on the ground. With the interception of flying targets, things were better, but not by much. The Patriot complexes shot down approximately every fifth missile, the rest passed through the missile defense cordons of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. There is currently no effective way to ensure the destruction of Scuds.

Not onlyrogue states claiming regional leadership, but also terrorist organizations. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the government troops of this country received several Elbrus complexes. The Taliban have seized these weapons. Its further fate is unknown, but, like the famous Chekhov gun, the R-17 rocket may one day fire. In which country will this happen, who will press the start button: a Kurdish separatist, an al-Qaeda fighter or an Afghan mujahideen?

The use by the Russian army of the remaining Scuds with an expiring shelf life during the fighting in Chechnya revealed the amazing reliability of old Soviet equipment. There were no failures.