The R-17 Elbrus (, named for Mount Elbrus), GRAU index 9K72 is a tactical ballistic missile, initially developed by the Soviet Union. It is also known by its NATO reporting name SS-1C Scud-B. The R-17 is one of several Soviet missiles to carry the reporting name Scud, and the most prolifically launched of the series, with a production run estimated at 7,000 (1960–1987). Also designated R-300 during the 1970s, the R-17 was derived from the R-11 Zemlya. It has been operated by 32 countries and manufactured in four countries outside the Soviet Union. It is still in service with some. The North Koreans reverse-engineered it as the Hwasong-5.
History The first mock-up was designed and built by Makeyev in 1958–1959, before the programme was transferred to the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in 1959 for mass production. The first launch was conducted in 1961, and it entered service in 1962, mounted on the 2P19 tracked transporter erector launcher (TEL).
During the 1960s the Soviets exported the R-17 missiles and 2P19 launchers to Warsaw Pact allies, though none of their armies had access to nuclear warheads, which were stored on their soil in Soviet-controlled Missile Technical Bases (RTB). After the 9P117 TEL was introduced, Warsaw Pact R-17 brigades were re-equipped with these. About 140 TELs were exported to Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Most of their R-17 brigades were disbanded in the 1990s as their equipment was wearing out and ineffective without a nuclear warhead.
The Soviet Union made little effort to export R-17 systems outside of the Warsaw Pact, since it was complex, expensive, and not militarily effective without a nuclear warhead, but several Middle Eastern countries showed interest in obtaining some systems, partly for propaganda purposes, giving their militaries a veneer of modernity and partly for the possibility of carrying deep strikes inside Israel, since their air forces proved to be incapable of conducting ground attack missions when faced against the better-trained Israeli Air Force.
The exact number of systems exported is not known, with one Russian account stating that 2,300 missiles were sold to 11 countries through 1989, while Zaloga states that Warsaw Pact inventories had over 1,000 missiles, and more than 3,000 were exported to the Middle East and Afghanistan between 1970 and 1990.
Faced with the Soviets refusal to supply R-17 missiles, the North Koreans set up a rogue production line with Egyptian assistance, locally producing it as the Hwasong-5.
According to a 1988 CIA report, Egypt have probably assembled Hwasong-5 missiles locally from knock-down kits, though its unknown if their efforts to build them locally were successful. Iran have also locally assembled Hwasong-5s, giving them the local designation of Shahab-1. Syria have also locally produced R-17 and R-17M with North Korean and Iranian assistance. Prior to the Syrian civil war, it was estimated that Syria was capable of building 30 R-17 missiles per year, under the designation Golan-1 and Golan-2.
Design The R-17 featured important improvements over the R-11. The Isayev RD-21 engine used a combination of inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA) oxidiser and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel, fed into the combustion chamber by fuel pumps that ensured a more consistent thrust. The guidance system, active only during the boosted phase, uses three gyroscopes, that give it a Circular Error Probable (CEP) of ( according to western sources). A nuclear warhead was designed for the R-17, with a selectable yield, from 5 to 70 kilotons. However it could also carry a chemical warhead, containing of viscous VX; a conventional weapon, with a single high explosive warhead; or a series of fragmentation payloads, using either high explosive, anti-tank or anti-runway munitions.
At first, the R-17 was carried on a tracked TEL, designated 2P19, which was derived from the 8U218 TEL for the R-11 but with an enlarged missile support structure to accommodate the longer and heavier missile, and additional compressed air cylinders on either side of the vehicle superstructure. In use vibrations from the tracked chassis could interfere with sensitive launch electronics in both the vehicle and the missile itself, causing reliability issues. Production of this model was halted after Khrushchev cancelled the production of heavy tanks (and thus the ISU-152K from which the 8U218 and subsequently 2P19 were derived) in 1962, and a wheeled launcher was designed by the Titan Central Design Bureau, becoming operational in 1967. The new MAZ-543 vehicle was officially designated 9P117 Uragan, and its Russian crews nicknamed it Kashalot (sperm whale), because of its size. The eight-wheeled MAZ-543 has a loaded weight of 37,400 kg, a road speed of 55 km/h and a range of 650 km. It can carry out the launch sequence autonomously, but this is usually directed from a separate command vehicle. The missile is raised to a vertical position by means of hydraulically powered cranes, which usually takes four minutes, while the total sequence lasts about one hour.
Organization
During the early 1960s R-17 missile brigades were deployed at front level with two brigades with a total of nine launchers and at army level with one brigade per army with six launchers each. Due to the complexity of early launchers, each brigade had a strength of about 3,500 men plus 700 assorted vehicles. A R-17 brigade included a headquarters and staff, two launch battalions (with about 745 men plus 265 vehicles and motorcycles), a technical battery, meteorological battery, repair battery, supply battery, engineer vehicle company, chemical defense platoon, and medical platoon.
A R-17 battery originally included six 2P19 launchers, eight 2T3 missile trailers, three 9F21 nuclear warhead shelter trucks, ten command vehicles, six UAZ-452 survey vehicles, four 8T210 crane vehicles, three 8G1 fuel trucks and four 8G17 oxidizer trucks. Following the introduction of the TR-1 Temp to front level service, most R-17 brigades were reassigned to support combined-arms armies. By 1967, R-17 brigades had about 1,200 men and 12 launchers each, thanks to the introduction of the simpler 9P117 TEL and improved handling equipment. In the late 1970s and early 1980s some R-17 brigades assigned to the border with NATO had an additional battery included per battalion, increasing the total number of launchers to 18. After one of these brigades was disbanded in 1979, its launchers were reassigned to other two brigades in East Germany, creating two brigades with 27 launchers (featuring 3 battalions with 9 launchers each). Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet Army had a total of 35 R-17 brigades with approximately 450 launchers.
Variants Soviet Union R-17 − Original version with a effective range, it used the AK-20I oxidant and TG-02 Tonka fuel. R-17M − Improved version, it uses a more energetic fuel (a combination of the AK-27I oxidant with TM-185 fuel) and other changes increasing maximum range to . In the 1970s, the R-17M was further improved with specially lined fuel tanks, allowing the missiles to be stored, fully fueled for up to 90 days. Extended range R-17M − First tested in Kapustin Yar test range in 1965, it could reach , but with poorer accuracy. Additionally, the missile performance was similar to the 9M76 Temp already in service, apparently preventing it from entering service with the Soviet Army. US intelligence initially designated it as the KY-3, but later called the SS-1D Scud-C. R-17E − Export version, it carries the 8F44F high-explosive warhead. When launched at the maximum 300 km range, it impacts at a speed of , while the explosion usually leaves a crater deep and wide.
North Korea Hwasong-5 − Reverse-engineered version developed with Egyptian assistance. Produced locally by Iran and Syria. Hwasong-6 − Improved version of the Hwasong-5 with range extended from to
Iraq Al-Husayn − Named after Husayn ibn Ali, it was a modified R-17E with a smaller warhead and enlarged fuel tanks increasing maximum range to . Al-Abbas − Extended range variant with a maximum range of . Al-Hijarah − Variant with a concrete warhead intended to penetrate hardened Iranian or Israeli targets.
Combat use
Afghanistan The most extensive use of the R-17 took place during the final phase of the Soviet-Afghan war. When the Soviets began their withdrawal from the country in May 1988, the Afghan Army received R-17E missiles as a substitute for the Soviet airpower. While the Afghan R-17 were nominally assigned to the 99th Missile Brigade in Afshur, in reality they were mostly operated by Soviet personnel with Afghans being gradually integrated into the unit. They were used against the Afghan mujahideen ammunition dumps near the Pakistan border and during the successful defense of Jalalabad, where 438 R-17 missiles were launched in total.
Through October 1989, another 995 R-17 missiles were launched against the Mujahideen. As the Soviets concluded their withdrawal and the country descended into protracted civil war, the number of R-17 launches declined. By May 1991, the 99th Missile Brigade had fired 1,554 of the approximately 1,700 R-17 missiles received. On 24 April 1992, the mujahideen forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud captured the Afshur military base alongside most its remaining R-17 missiles (about 50 missiles) and launchers. Other mujahideen factions also captured a few missiles and TELs, but they couldn't launch them without the help of former 99th Missile Brigade personnel. During the Afghan civil war, about 44 missiles were fired between April 1991 and spring 1996 by several factions in various battles. The Taliban managed to capture part of the surviving stockpile during the fighting in the late 1990s, but due the poor state of the equipment and lack of trained personnel, only five missiles were fired after the summer of 1996. Following the United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the remaining four functional launchers were scrapped in the Panjshir Valley in January 2005.
Armenia
During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Armenians reportedly fired R-17 and Tochka missiles on the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan. Analysts of the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that Armenia probably used their Soviet-era R-17 and Tochka missiles to conserve their small stockpile of the more advanced Iskander missiles and to avoid escalating the conflict beyond the Nagorno-Karabakh region. They also noted that both Armenia and Azerbaijan could hit most targets in the region with long-range rocket artillery, limiting the tactical value of using expensive ballistic missiles.
Egypt