When was the Scud Missile Supported by the Soviet Union to Vietnam?

02 April 2021

Scud-B missiles of the Vietnamese Army (all photos : KienThuc)

First announced in 1957, the Scud ballistic missile when born was used by the Soviet Union as a nuclear weapon, but later added the ability to carry conventional warheads before being aid by Moscow to Vietnam.

One thing that is quite surprising is that in addition to the modern weapons that Vietnam has just imported, there is another weapon that has been put into service since the early 80's, up to now still considered "bar sword "of the Vietnamese army, it is the Scud ballistic missile .

This type of ballistic missile has been aid by the Soviet Union to Vietnam since the 80s of the last century, but up to now we still maintain well, continue to be used in the service of the artillery force.

The Soviet Scud missile was derived from a product of missile technology, obtained after World War II, from the Nazi missile experts.

The Soviet Union conducted research and dissected the V-2 missile developed by the Nazis, this research and development process lasted for 10 years, before the Soviet Union launched the R-11M missile, parade via Red Square in November 1957.

This is a short-range, liquid-fueled missile, the Scud missile after being released quickly became popular around the world and is the basis for many other missile designs, with the common name Scud.

The R-11M, also known as the Scud A, was originally developed for the purpose of carrying a nuclear warhead. The Scud A has been in service since 1955. The Scud A is 10.3 m long and 0.88 m in diameter. The missile has a range of 190 km and an accuracy of about 3 km.

The R-17 or Scud B is an upgrade over the Scud A, which entered service in 1962. The missile has a length of 11.25 meters, a diameter of 0.88 meters and weighs 5,900 kg when launched. It has a range of 300 km with an accuracy of just 450 meters.

A number of different warheads have been developed for the Scud B missile, including 5 to 70 kiloton nuclear warheads, and conventional high-explosive and chemical agents. A basic Scud B takes about an hour, to complete a single sequence of launchers.

The Scud B was deployed in 1962. Although the system is outdated and has been replaced by new designs in Russia, it remains one of the most popular and widely deployed missile systems in the world.

By 1965, the new Scud B ballistic missile entered service in many European and Middle Eastern countries. In 1973, Egypt fired a small number of Scud B missiles against Israel. More than 2,000 Scud B missiles and a small number of Scud C missiles, are believed to have been used in Afghanistan.

During the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq deployed an improved variant of the Scud B missile, the Al Hussein missile. In 1998, Ukraine had three brigades with Scud B missiles and a total of 55 in service.

Scud B missiles were exported to many countries around the world, participating in many wars. Up to 7,000 Scud missiles have been built in Russia, and many Scud B missiles and their modified variants around the world.

In the past, Vietnam was the first military in Southeast Asia to have the Scud tactical ballistic missile in service. In 1981, Vietnam received from the Soviet Union four 9P117 self-propelled-launch vehicles, and a large number of R-17 Elbrus (Scud-B) missile ammunition.

Up to the present time, that is, after importing Scud B ballistic missiles for nearly 40 years, this type of missile continues to be used by our army in the service of the artillery force.

In order to ensure the Scud missile technical coefficient is capable of combat readiness, the technical units of the Vietnam 490 Missile Brigade have had many initiatives to improve the components for the missile to function properly.

Vietnamese military engineers have designed, manufactured and installed missile fuel production line technology at Factory A31, Department of Industry of Air Force; to build and develop product specifications and production technology processes of equivalent quality, but with a cheaper price than imported products.

The line is designed with a capacity of tens of tons/year, has gone into production, the work has helped add liquid fuel synchronously with missile weapons systems, meeting the increasingly high requirements for combat readiness and limits dependence on foreign supplies.

(Kien Thuc)