Scud

Scud is the NATO reporting name (not an acronym) for a Russian army short-range liquid propellent surface-to-surface [ballistic missile]?, the SS-1. A development from the German V2? in the 1950s they had a range of around 250 kilometres? with almost no real accuracy. Variants were the B in 1961 and C in 1965, with the D variant arriving as late as the 1980s. It could deliver a explosive, chemical?, or nuclear payload.

The name is also used to refer to an Iraqi modification of the same missile. Altered for greater range it came to particular prominence during the Gulf War when a number of missiles were fired at Israel (40) and Saudi Arabia (46). The US-made [Patriot missile system]? claimed successes in shooting down the missiles, but many critics claim that the accuracy of the Patriot missles has been greatly exaggerated.

As with some other missiles, the military advantage of this weapon is that is it is easily transported, for example on a launching vehicle like a truck.

The Iraqis developed four versions: Scud, longer-range Scud, [Al Hussein]?, and [Al Abbas]?. Apart from the almost unmodified weapon these were not successful missiles as they tended to break up in flight and had small warheads.