tractor, Tolyatti Technical Museum,
Tolyatti, Russia (2010) The Scud missile family is one of the few ballistic missiles to be extensively used in actual warfare by different forces, second only to the
V-2 in terms of combat launches.
The first recorded combat use of the Scud was at the end of the
Yom Kippur War in 1973, when three missiles were fired by Egypt against Israeli-held
Arish and bridgehead on the western bank of the
Suez canal. Seven Israeli soldiers were killed. Libya responded to
U.S. airstrikes in 1986 by firing two Scud missiles at a
U.S. Coast Guard navigation station on the nearby Italian island of
Lampedusa, which missed their target. Scud missiles were used in several regional conflicts that included use by Soviet and Afghan Communist forces in Afghanistan, and Iranians and Iraqis against one another in the so-called "
War of the cities" during the
Iran–Iraq War. Scuds were used by Iraq during the
Gulf War against Israel and coalition targets in Saudi Arabia. More than a dozen Scuds were
fired from Afghanistan at targets in Pakistan in 1988, and against targets within Afghanistan in March 1991. There were also a small number of Scud missiles used in the 1994 civil war in Yemen, as well as by Russian forces in
Chechnya in 1996 and onwards. The missiles saw some minor use by forces loyal to
Muammar Gaddafi in the
Libyan Civil War. They have reportedly been used recently in the ongoing
Syrian civil war by the
Syrian Army.
Iran–Iraq War Iraq was the first to use ballistic missiles during the
Iran–Iraq War, firing limited numbers of
Frog-7 rockets at the towns of
Dezful and
Ahvaz. On 27 October 1982, Iraq launched its first Scud-Bs at Dezful killing 21 civilians and wounding 100. Scud strikes continued during the following years, intensifying sharply in 1985, with more than 100 missiles falling inside Iran. In response, the Iranians searched for a source of ballistic weapons, finally meeting success in 1985, when they obtained a small number of Scud-Bs from Libya and Syria: in addition to supplying these missiles, Syria also taught Iran the technology to produce them. These weapons were assigned to a special unit, the
Khatam Al-Anbya force, attached to the
Pasdaran. On 12 March, the first Iranian Scuds fell in
Baghdad and
Kirkuk. The strikes infuriated
Saddam Hussein, but the Iraqi response was limited by the range of their Scuds, that could not reach
Tehran. After a request for
TR-1 Temp (SS-12 Scaleboard) missiles was refused by the Soviets, Iraq turned to developing its own long-range version of the Scud missile, that became known as the
Al Hussein. In the meantime, both sides quickly ran out of missiles, and had to contact their international partners for resupply. In 1986, Iraq ordered 300 Scud-Bs from the Soviet Union, while Iran turned to
North Korea for missile deliveries and for assistance in developing a domestic missile industry. By 1988 the fighting along the border had reached a stalemate, and both belligerents began employing terror tactics in order to break the deadlock. Lasting from 29 February to 20 April, this conflict became known as the
war of the cities and saw an intensive use of Scud missiles in what became known as the "Scud duel". The first rounds were fired by Iraq, when seven
Al-Husseins landed in Tehran on 29 February. In all, Iraq fired 189 missiles, mostly of the Al-Hussein type, of which 135 landed in Tehran, 23 in
Qom, 22 in
Isfahan, four in
Tabriz, three in
Shiraz and two in
Karaj. The Iranian response included launching 75 to 77 Hwasong-5s, a North Korean Scud variant, at targets in Iraq, mostly in Baghdad.
Civil war in Afghanistan The most intensive – and less well-known – use of Scud missiles occurred during the
civil war in Afghanistan between 1989 and 1992. As compensation for the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, the USSR agreed to deliver sophisticated weapons to the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), among which were large quantities of Scud-Bs, and possibly some Scud-Cs as well. During the
mujahideen attack against
Jalalabad, between March and June 1989, three firing batteries manned by Afghan crews advised by Soviets fired approximately 438 missiles in defense of the embattled garrison. Soon all the heavily contested areas of Afghanistan, such as the
Salang Pass and the city of
Kandahar, were under attack by Scud missiles. Due to its imprecision, the Scud was used as an area bombing weapon, and its effect was psychological as well as physical: the missiles would explode without warning, as they travelled faster than the sound they produced in-flight. At the time, reports indicated that Scud attacks had devastating consequences on the morale of the Afghan rebels, who eventually learned that by applying guerilla tactics, and keeping their forces dispersed and hidden, they could minimize casualties from Scud attacks. The explosions destroyed the headquarters of
Islamic leader
Jamil al-Rahman, and killed a number of his followers. In all, between October 1988 and February 1992, with 1,700 to 2,000 Scud launches, After January 1992, the Soviet advisors were withdrawn, reducing the Afghan army's ability to use their ballistic missiles. On 24 April 1992, the mujahideen forces of
Ahmad Shah Massoud captured the main Scud stockpile at Afshur but members of the
99th Missile Brigade had ditched their uniforms leaving Massoud's men with no way of operating such weapons. As the communist government collapsed, the few remaining Scuds and their TELs were divided among the rival factions fighting for power. Due to the lack of knowledge on such weapons, between April 1992 and 1996, only 44 Scuds were fired in Afghanistan. When the
Taliban arrived in power in 1996, they captured a few of the remaining Scuds, but lack of maintenance had reduced the state of the missile force to such an extent that there were only five Scud firings, until 2001. After the
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the last four surviving Scud launchers were destroyed in 2005.
Gulf War Scud attacks , Israel, during the first Gulf War (26 January 1991) At the outbreak of the
Gulf War, Iraq had an effective, if limited, ballistic missile force. Besides the original Scud-B, several local variants had been developed. These included the Al-Hussein, developed during the Iran–Iraq War, the Al-Hijarah, a shortened Al-Hussein, and the Al-Abbas, an extended-range Scud fired from fixed launching sites, that was never used. The Soviet-built
MAZ-543 vehicle was the prime launcher, along with a few locally designed
TELs, the Al Nida and the Al Waleed. Scuds were responsible for most of the coalition deaths outside Iraq and Kuwait. Of a total 88 Scud missiles, 46 were fired into Saudi Arabia and 42 into Israel. Twenty-eight members of the
Pennsylvania National Guard were
killed when a Scud struck a
United States Army barracks in
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Scud hunting The
United States Air Force organized
air patrols over areas where Scud launchers were suspected to operate, namely western Iraq near the Jordanian border, where the Scuds were fired at Israel, and southern Iraq, where they were aimed at Saudi Arabia.
A-10 strike aircraft flew over these zones during the day, and
F-15Es fitted with
LANTIRN pods and
synthetic aperture radars patrolled at night. However, the
infrared signatures and
radar signatures of the Iraqi TELSs were almost impossible to distinguish from ordinary trucks and from the surrounding
electromagnetic clutter. During the war, while patrolling, strike aircraft managed to sight mobile TELs on 42 occasions, but only eight times the aircraft were able to locate the targets well enough to release their ordnance. In addition, the Iraqi missile units dispersed their Scud TELs and hid them in culverts,
wadis, or under highway bridges. They also practiced "
shoot-and-scoot" tactics, withdrawing the launcher to a hidden location immediately after it had fired, while the launch sequence that usually took 90 minutes was reduced to half an hour. This enabled them to preserve their forces, despite optimistic claims by the coalition. A post-war
Pentagon study concluded that relatively few launchers had been destroyed by coalition aircraft.
Chechen Wars A small number of Scuds were used by Russian forces in 1996 during the
First Chechen War and in late 1999/early 2000 during the
Second Chechen War, including during the
Battle of Grozny (1999–2000). Although frequently reported by media as Scuds, the majority of the 60–100 SRBMs fired in the Chechen Wars were the
OTR-21 Tochka (SS-21 Scarab-B). The first confirmed use happened several months later, when on 15 August 2011, as anti-Gaddafi forces encircled the Gaddafi-controlled capital of
Tripoli,
Libyan Army forces near Gaddafi's hometown of
Sirte fired a Scud missile toward anti-Gaddafi positions in
Cyrenaica, well over 100 kilometers away. The missile struck the desert near
Ajdabiya, causing no casualties. On 22 August 2011, a second Scud-B also fired by Gaddafi forces in Sirte. On 23 August, opposition forces in
Misrata reported that four Scud-B missiles were fired against the city from Sirte, but had caused no damage. Initial claims that an
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System-equipped
US Navy cruiser shot down the missiles over the
Gulf of Sidra were later denied by US DoD officials.
Syrian Civil War On 12 December 2012, it was reported by various outlets that the
Syrian Army has begun using short-range ballistic missiles against rebels in the
Syrian civil war. According to
NATO officials, "allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets" had detected the launch of a number (later reports said at least 6) of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria. The trajectory and distance travelled indicated that they were Scud-type missiles, although no information on the type of Scud being used was provided at the time. An American intelligence official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that missiles had been fired from the
Damascus area at targets in northern Syria, where the majority of the
rebels' bases and facilities are located. Three districts in the rebel-held eastern part of
Aleppo and the nearby city of
Tel Rifat were hit by ballistic missiles on 22 February 2013, flattening up to 20 houses in each of the places hit.
Human Rights Watch inspector Ole Solvang toured the areas targeted by Scuds on 25 February, saying that he "has never seen such destruction" during his past visits to the country. According to the New York-based organization at least 141 people were killed in the attacks, including 71 children. The statement added that there was no sign of rebel presence in the areas hit, meaning that the attacks were unlawful. Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi denied the government was using ballistic weapons, even as opposition activists claimed more than 30 had been launched since December 2012.
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) Houthis possessed 300 Scud missiles as of June 2015, although Saudi-led air strikes allegedly damaged or destroyed "most of them." Between 2015 and November 2017, Houthi forces fired more than 170 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, including Scud, Scarab, and
modified SA-2 missiles. As of October 2016, there were 85 confirmed interceptions using Patriot missiles. Local versions of Scud missiles, known as the Burkan 1 and Burkan 2-H, have also been displayed and used by the Houthis beginning in September 2016. On 16 October 2020, Armenian Armed Forces in Nagorno-Karabakh fired another Scud missile at Ganja. Officials in Azerbaijan announced that at least 13 people, including two infants, had been killed, with more than 50 others injured. Azerbaijan destroyed at least one Scud missile launcher during the course of the war. ==Operators==