Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE
Scud is the NATO code name for a Soviet surface-to-surface
ballistic missile that evolved from the German V-2. Compared to
the German missile, it has a longer range, greater accuracy, but
a lighter payload (fig. 87). 59 The Iraqis modified the Scud B to extend
its range to 650 km. This conversion also increased missile
speed 40 to 50 percent but reduced both warhead weight
and accuracy. Because of shoddy manufacturing, the modified
missile also had a tendency to break up during its terminal
phase. 60 Unintentionally, the corkscrewing, disintegrating missile
became in effect a maneuvering reentry vehicle with decoys—
a much more difficult target to intercept than the designed Scud
warhead. 61
Before the war, there were fears that fatalities from missile
attacks might be on average as high as 10 per Scud fired, an
estimate in line with the five killed by each V-2 during World
War II. However, this did not take into account the impact of
chemical warheads, which would have inflicted even greater
Figure 87. Scud missile. The Iraqis modified the Soviet Scud missile
which extended its range but lessened its accuracy. Iraqi Scud attacks
put political pressure on the coalition and, as a result, diverted resources.
(Reprinted from http://www.acq.osd.mil.)
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