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Speed of a Scud?

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  • Speed of a Scud?

    For my screenplay, a major event is the launch of an R-300/SS-1d/"Scud-C" missile at a refugee camp from a neighbouring country. The missile flies about 80 miles.

    a) Would it be detected by early warning systems?
    b) How long would it take to reach its destination?

  • #2
    Question about the Role of SCUD missiles in conventional war

    Do you guys think the Soviet SCUD missiles had a role in conventional conflicts in the 70s and 80s
    I mean they were short ranged not terribly accurate and had a small conventional warhead
    If you think they did what would be the best way to use them ?
    Thanks

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    • #3
      Do you guys think the Soviet SCUD missiles had a role in conventional conflicts in the 70s and 80s
      I mean they were short ranged not terribly accurate and had a small conventional warhead
      If you think they did what would be the best way to use them
      They could go out to 400 miles in later versions and had nuclear warheads early on (went up to 500kt by the 1970s). They would be used against airbases, command centers, logistic choke points, NATO bases, and the like.

      By the end of the Cold War the Soviet Army alone had about 35 Scud brigades on army and front-level assignment, with like 450 launchers.

      The "DRA" 99th Missile Brigade launched 1,550 SCUDS on Mujahideen targets, a mix of terror strikes, strikes on logistic strikes, and moral building strikes. Over 400 missiles were fired in the defense of Jalalabad.
      Last edited by troung; 22 Aug 18,, 01:27.
      To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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      • #4
        Sure Saddam used them in the Iran - Iraq war. The Iranians didn't have missiles then and never forgot

        He also used them in the first gulf war not for very long though

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        • #5
          Originally posted by troung View Post
          They could go out to 400 miles in later versions and had nuclear warheads early on (went up to 500kt by the 1970s). They would be used against airbases, command centers, logistic choke points, NATO bases, and the like.

          .
          Do u think even with conventional warhead ?

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          • #6
            Scud Lite

            Originally posted by nastle View Post
            Do u think even with conventional warhead ?
            Scud's had very low accuracy. They were largely terror weapons when used with conventional warheads (google 'war of the cities'). I think their burnout speed was about Mach 10, but at a range of only 80 miles their trajectory would be very parabolic. Couldn't give you a time line but it would be on the order of a 3-5 minutes I'd imagine. In the first Iraq war, the US DSP constellation was able to detect Scud launches (its primary purpose was detecting ICBM/IRBM launches in case of nuclear war). So there is the potential for early warning. Now adays there are a number of mobile ABM radars that could be used to detect such, from newer flavors of SPY-1 on USN ships to THAAD's radar to the Sea Based Xband radar and of course the traditional fixed types like Cobra Dane, etc. The US has an ABM radar in practically every time zone at this point, not even counting the Burkes and Ticos. Actual detection would depend on where specifically your scenario was taking place, but the SBIRS constellation would certainly detect the thermal plumb even if the ballistic arc was outside the envelope of current ABM radar sites.

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