Scud B

The vehicle with the missile shown in the photos was a weapon produced by the Soviet Union. The photos were taken at the 12th International Modeling Festival Bytom 2015 in Poland.

The warhead was able to carry both conventional and nuclear payload. The missile was equipped with a liquid fuel rocket engine that could run up to 100 seconds. The flight time, however, ranged from 160 to 313 seconds. The difference in the times given may be surprising, but remember that it was a ballistic missile.

The engine of a ballistic missile is only used during the climb. Then the missile flights freely thanks to the energy given and the gravity.

The maximum flight height of the missile was 86 km (53⅖ mi), and the minimum was 24 km (14.9 mi). The rocket was consuming 57.83 kg (127½ lb) of fuel per second. Its range was from 50 to 300 kilometers (31-186 mi).

A launcher for the rocket was constructed on the chassis of the MAZ-543 wheeled vehicle. The entire set, the rocket with the launcher, was marked with the code 9K72 Elbrus and was adopted by the Soviet army in 1967. Scud B was the code assigned to the weapon by NATO. American intelligence called it SS-1C. During the construction phase, the Russians used the designation R-17 for the rocket.

Scud missiles were in service in all the countries of the Eastern Bloc. They were also exported to many other countries and took part in numerous wars. They were especially loud during the First Gulf War. Iraq fired 91 of these rockets in the directions of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Bahrain. However, from the military point of view, these attacks were not very effective.

Some technical data of the MAZ-543 transporter:

• 12-cylinder engine,
• Engine power: 525 hp (386 kW),
• Four axles, all driven (two front steering),
• Length of the set: 13.36 m (43⅘ ft),
• Width: 3.02 m (9.9 ft),
• Mass of the transporter without a missile: 30.6 t (UK-30.1 t, USA-33.7 t),
• Mass with a missile and an equipment: 39 t (UK-38⅖ t, USA-43 t),
• Range of a vehicle: 650 km (404 mi),
• Off-road speed: 15 km/h (9.3 mph),
• Speed on the road: 45 km/h (28 mph),
• Height of the set during transport: 3.30 m (10.⅘ ft),
• Height with the rising rocket: 13.67 m (44⅘ ft).

Sources:

• http://14dappanc.wp.mil.pl/pl/15_18.html
• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-17
• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocisk_balistyczny
• Publishing house (Polish edition): Polskie Media Amer.Com SA - „I wojna w Zatoce Perskiej 1991” from series „Wielkie bitwy historii”, author: Alastair Finlan, Poznań, Poland 2009 r.

01 Aug 2017