Al-Samoud 2
Al-Samoud (الصمود, alternately Al-Samed, which means steadfastness in Arabic)[2] was a liquid-propellant rocket tactical ballistic missile developed by Iraq in the years between the Gulf War and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The Iraqi army also developed a solid-fuel rocket version known as Ababil-100.
Al Samoud | |
---|---|
![]() An Al Samoud missile captured by US forces in Southern Iraq (2003) | |
Type | Single-stage ballistic missile |
Service history | |
In service | 2003 |
Used by | Iraqi Army |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Iraq |
Produced | 2001-2003 |
Specifications | |
Length | 7,14m |
Diameter | 760mm |
Warhead | 280kg |
Propellant | Liquid propellant (Al-Samoud)RFNA/UDMH[1] Solid propellant (Ababil-100) |
Operational range | 180km |
Guidance system | Inertial |
Accuracy | 2.0 km CEP[1] |
Launch platform | Mobile launcher |
Development
The missile was essentially a scaled-down Scud,[3] though parts were mostly derived from the Russian SA-2 'Guideline' surface-to-air missile. The first test-firing was carried out as early as 1997[2] and was supervised by UNSCOM.[4] The production started in 2001, and the goal was the assembly of ten missiles each month. The Al Samoud 2 was not fully operational by 2003, but some of them had been already delivered to the Iraqi army.[5]
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,[6] produced by the Iraqi company Al-Fida.[7]
Payload
The missile carried a 280 kilogram warhead that was half high explosives and half protective steel shell. The explosive charge weighed 140 kg, made of a mixture of 84 kg of RDX=60%, 42 kg of TNT= 30% and 14 kg of aluminium= 10%, the latter used as an energetic blast enhancer. The payload was also designed to upload different types of bomblets.[5]
Guidance
The guidance package was assembled by cannibalizing gyroscopes from the Chinese Silkworm cruise missile.[5] A source is cited as claiming that there were inertial and even GPS guidance systems illegally imported from Belarus, but these allegations have not been confirmed.[8]
Banned by the UN
![](../I/m/Al-Samoud-Fired.jpg)
On February 13, 2003, a UN panel reported that Iraq's Al-Samoud 2 missiles, disclosed by Iraq to weapons inspectors in December, have a range of 180 km, in breach of UNSCR 1441. The limit allowed by the UN is 150 km.[9]
Iraq agreed to destroy the Al-Samoud 2 long range missiles, and by mid-March 2003, a number had been destroyed. Although UNMOVIC ordered to stop its production, Iraq assembled some 20 missiles during the early months of 2003.[10]
American forces found a cache of twelve Al Samoud missiles south of Baiji on July 21, 2003.[11]
Operational history (March–April 2003)
![](../I/m/IraqiShortRange-3.jpg)
A number of Al-Samoud 2 missiles were fired at Kuwait during the 2003 conflict.[12] One of them, aimed at the Coalition Headquarters at Camp Doha, was successfully intercepted by a Patriot missile on March 27. Some debris hit buildings inside the US base.[13] 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,[8] was also used by the Iraqi army during the invasion. The Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, US 3rd Infantry Division, were struck south of Baghdad by a missile of this kind on April 7. Three soldiers and two foreign reporters were killed in the blast.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
References
- "GIS SPecial Topical Studies:Iraq war 2003". ISSA Special Reports. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017.
- Miller, David: Conflict Iraq: Weapons and tactics of US and Iraqi Forces. Zenith imprint, 2003, page 22. ISBN 0-7603-1592-2
- Al-Samud
- Iraq's missile programs Archived 2015-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Samoud 2
- Cordesman, Anthony (2003). The Great Iraqi Missile Mystery: The Military Importance of the Ababil, Al Samoud II, Al Fatah, Badr 2000, and Al Huysayn. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 25 February 2003
- Unmovic - IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq, 19 February 2003
- www.globalsecurity.org/Ababil
- "After Iraq disclosed in its CAFCD that, on at least 13 occasions, its Al Samud II missile had reached ranges beyond 150 km, the UN put a stop to Al Samud II flight-testing until they could further assess the system’s capabilities. UNMOVIC convened a panel of missile experts in February 2003, which concluded that the Al Samud II violated UN statutes, and, therefore, the program should be frozen and the missiles destroyed." www.globalsecurity.org
- "The missile destruction program was incomplete when the inspectors left in mid-March, leaving Iraq with Al Samud II missiles that could be used against Coalition forces.."(...)"Although there was a freeze ordered by UNMOVIC, according to a former senior official at Al Karamah, Iraq produced approximately 20 missiles during the first quarter of 2003." www.globalsecurity.org
- "A cache of 12 Al Samoud missiles was found south of Bayji at LD7154 and LD7644 on 21 July 2003 at 1700 hrs.." www.globalsecurity.org
- 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:
- www.globalsecurity.org/Al Samoud 2
- www.cdi.org Archived 2003-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
- www.cnn.com/2003
- Zucchino, David: Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad. Grove Press, 2004, page 162.
- "He (Lt. Col. Wesley, second in command) had gotten only thirty feet from his vehicle when a powerful Abril (sic) missile hit it dead center." Lacey, Jim:Takedown: the 3rd Infantry Division's twenty-one day assault on Baghdad. Naval Institute Press, 2007, page 243. ISBN 1-59114-458-2
- Iraqi missile hits Army base, By Steven Lee Myers. The New York Times, 04/07/2003.
- "On Point - The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
- Nach ersten Erkenntnissen soll es sich um eine irakische Boden-Boden-Rakete vom Typ Ababil-100 mit einer Reichweite von 130 Kilometern handeln. Focus magazine, 14 April 2003, report by Gudrun Dometeit (in German)
- Perry, Walter L. (2015). Operation Iraqi Freedom: Decisive War, Elusive Peace (PDF). RAND Corporation. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-8330-4192-0.