Soviet ballistic missiles, developed and adopted as early as the fifties, concern the command and political leadership of Western countries today. Decades have passed, at the starting positions long ago, other, more modern systems have taken their places, new ones are being developed, and the media continue to mention the word “Scud”.
The R-11 Elbrus missile was first successfully launched in 1953, and the Soviet armed forces received it in 1957. According to modern concepts, its device is very simple, the head part did not separate, control devices were placed between the oxidizer and fuel tanks. The accuracy of the hit left much to be desired, which was partially offset by a powerful high-explosive charge and the fact that unburned fuel created an additional damaging effect.
Soon, these weapons received their NATO designation SS-1, or "Scud." The missile was delivered to countries that were considered friendly and even allied at the turn of the 50s and 60s. Iran, Iraq, Egypt, North Korea, Syria, Libya, having received the latest weapons at the time, became the owners of a weighty argument in disputes with neighbors. Both Yemen (North and South) shot each other with the Soviet R-17 and R-11. Not only that, engineering personnel, who were again trained for the most part in Soviet universities, began to modernize, improve and study the possibilities of organizing the production of similar own samples.
Why is this old and imperfect Scud so terrible? The rocket has become so popular in countries that do not have high scientific and technical potential for two main reasons.
The first of these is simplicity and reliability, characteristic of all Soviet military equipment. North Korean communists, Iranian fundamentalists, and Egyptian nationalists were able to understand the structure of the main nodes. But this was not the main reason.
There are few in the world of modern weapons that would be as secretive as the Scud. The missile is transported on the platform, it is difficult to detect, and even harder to shoot down. During Operation Desert Storm, despite the overwhelming air dominance of the US Air Force, they failed to destroy any of the launchers on the ground. With interception of flying targets, things were better, but not by much. Patriot systems shot down approximately every fifth missile, the rest passed missile defense cordons in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. An effective method for the guaranteed destruction of the Scuds does not currently exist.
Not only rogue states claiming regional leadership, but also terrorist organizations are striving for possession of rocket technologies . After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the government forces of this country received several Elbrus complexes. The Taliban captured this weapon. His further fate is unknown, but, like the well-known Chekhov rifle, the R-17 missile can one day fire. In which country will this happen, who will press the start button: Kurdish separatist, al-Qaeda fighter or Afghan mujahideen?
The use by the Russian army of the remaining Skuds with an expiring shelf life during the hostilities in Chechnya revealed the tremendous reliability of old Soviet equipment. Not a single failure occurred.