- Al-Samoud 2
Al-Samoud (الصمود, alternately "Al-Samed", which means steadfastness in Arabic) was a liquid-fuel
ballistic missile developed byIraq in the years between theGulf War and the American Invasion.Development
The missile was essentially a scaled-down
Scud , though parts were also derived from the Russian SA-2 'Guideline' surface-to-air missile. The production started in 2001, and the goal was the assembly of 10 missiles each month. The project was heavily dependent of technical assistance fromPoland andRussia . The Al Samoud 2 wasn't fully operational by 2003, although some of them were already delivered to the Iraqi army. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/samoud.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org/Al-Samoud] ]Engine
The rocket engine evolved from the SA-2 design and the thrust vector controls from the Scud.The system also included an Iraqi-designed mobile launcher similar to the "Al-Nida", built for the missile
Al Hussein . [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al-samoud_2.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org/Al Samoud 2] ]Payload
The missile carried a 280
kilogram warhead that was half high explosives and half protective steel shell. The explosive charge weighted 140 kg, made of a mixture of 84 kg ofRDX =60%, 42 kg of TNT= 30% and 14 kg ofaluminium = 10%, the latter used as a fuse.The payload was also designed to upload different types ofbomblets . [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al-samoud_2.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org/Al Samoud 2] ]Guidance
The guidance package was assembled by cannibalizing
gyroscopes from the Chinese Silkworm cruiser missile. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al-samoud_2.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org/Al Samoud 2] ] A source claim that there were inertial and evenGPS guidance systems illegally imported fromBelarus . [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/ababil.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org/Ababil] ]Banned by the UN
On
February 13 ,2003 , aUN panel reported thatIraq 's Al-Samoud 2 missiles, disclosed by Iraq to weapons inspectors in December, have a range of 180 km, in breach ofUNSCR 1441 . The limit allowed by the UN is 150 km, a threshold at which the missile crosses into being known as a weapon of mass destruction.Iraq agreed to destroy the Al-Samoud 2 long range missiles, and as ofMarch 2 ,2003 , ten had been destroyed. AlthoughUNMOVIC ordered a freeze, according to a former senior official at Al Karamah, Iraq produced approximately twenty missiles during the first quarter of 2003. Another source claimed that, after UNMOVIC inspectors departed the country in March 2003, Iraq was able to assemble about four Al Samoud 2 missiles from remaining parts that had been placed in mobile trucks to avoid air strikes. These missiles were not delivered to the Army.American forces found a cache of twelve Al Samoud missiles south of
Baiji on July 21, 2003.Operational History (March-April 2003)
A number of Al-Samoud 2 missiles were fired at Kuwait during the 2003 conflict. [The sources claim that only three to five Al-Samoud 2 were actually used by the Iraqis, the remainder missiles were purportedly Ababil-100/Al-Fahd or Laith-90, this latter a locally upgraded version of the
Frog-7 :
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al-samoud_2.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org/Al Samoud 2]
* [http://www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=1799#prof www.cdi.org] ] One of them, aimed at the Coalition Headquarters at "Camp Doha ", was successfully intercepted by a missile Patriot on March 27. Some debris hit buildings inside the US base. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/05/29/sprj.irq.missile/index.html#prof www.cnn.com/2003] ] The other missiles were also shot down or landed harmlessly in the desert.A similar development, the Al-Fahd or Ababil-100, a solid propellant version of the Al-Samoud, was also used by the Iraqi army during the invasion. The Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade,
US 3rd Infantry Division , were struck by a missile of this kind on April 7, while the Brigade's main force was conducting an incursion 15 km north, well insideBaghdad . Three soldiers and two foreign reporters were killed in the blast. Another 14 soldiers were injured, and 22 vehicles destroyed or seriously damaged, most of themHumvees . [Zucchino, David: "Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad". Grove Press, 2004, page 162.] ["Iraqi missile hits Army base", By Steven Lee Myers. "The New York Times", 04/07/2003.] [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2004/onpoint/ch-6.htm#prof www.globalsecurity.org] ] [ [http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/krieg-im-irak-und150-reporter_aid_195389.html#prof Special report about the death of the two journalists (in German)] ]References
See also
*
List of missiles
*Al Hussein
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