Far simpler than the V-2's multi-chamber design, and employing an anti-oscillation baffle to prevent chugging, it was a forerunner to the larger engines used in Soviet launch vehicles.

[citation needed] Further developed variants were the R-17 (later R-300) Elbrus / SS-1c Scud-B in 1961 and the SS-1d Scud-C in 1965, both of which could carry either a conventional high-explosive, a 5- to 80-kiloton thermonuclear, or a chemical (thickened VX) warhead.

[citation needed] The first of the "Scud" series, designated R-11 (SS-1B Scud-A) originated in a 1951 requirement for a ballistic missile with similar performance to the German V-2 rocket.

[6] A naval variant, the R-11FM (SS-N-1 Scud-A) was first tested in February 1955, and was first launched from a converted Project 611 (Zulu class) submarine in September of the same year.

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.

Eventually, the advent of more modern types in the same category, such as the TR-1 Temp (SS-12 Scaleboard), made the Scud-C redundant, and it apparently did not enter service with the Soviet armed forces.

The Central Scientific Research Institute for Automation and Hydraulics (TsNIAAG) began work on the project in 1967, using an optical guidance system where a photograph of the target (provided through air reconnaissance) was inserted into a holder.

[10] In 1974, the VTO programme was revisited to take advantage of miniaturized computer hardware, where the guidance system would rely on a digitized image (DSMAC).

The first two test launches of this version in 1984 failed; the optical lens' inner surface on the missile's nose suffered from dust buildup and this was corrected after redesign work.

With a TV camera fitted in the nose, the system could compare the target area with data from an onboard computer library (DSMAC).

[12] These missiles were reverse engineered, and reproduced using North Korean infrastructure, including the 125 factory at Pyongyang, a research and development institute at Sanum-dong and the Musudan-ri Launch Facility.

It features an improved guidance system, a range of 500 km, but had its payload reduced to 770 kg, though the dimensions are identical to the original Scud.

[12][14] The main characteristics of the Rodong are a range of 1000 km and a CEP estimated at 2,000–4,000 m, giving the North Koreans the ability to strike Japan.

The rapidity with which the Rodong was designed and exported after just two tests came as a surprise for many Western observers, and led to some speculation that it was in fact based on a cancelled Soviet project from the Cold War period, but this has not been proven.

[31][32] The Houthi forces in Yemen unveiled the Burkan-1[33] (also spelled as Borkan 1 and Burqan 1[34]) on 2 September 2016 when it was fired toward King Fahd International Airport.

[46] Libya responded to U.S. airstrikes in 1986 by firing two Scud missiles at a U.S. Coast Guard navigation station on the nearby Italian island of Lampedusa, which missed their target.

[citation needed] By 1988 the fighting along the border had reached a stalemate, and both belligerents began employing terror tactics in order to break the deadlock.

[49] During this episode, Iraq's missiles killed 2,000 Iranians, injured 6,000, and caused a quarter of Tehran's population of ten million to flee the city.

As compensation for the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, the USSR agreed to deliver sophisticated weapons to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), among which were large quantities of Scud-Bs, and possibly some Scud-Cs as well.

Every Scud battery was composed of three TELs, three reloading vehicles, a mobile meteorological unit, one tanker and several command and control trucks.

[citation needed] Due to its imprecision, the Scud was used as an area bombing weapon, and its effect was psychological as well as physical: the missiles would explode without warning, as they travelled faster than the sound they produced in-flight.

[57] In all, between October 1988 and February 1992, with 1,700 to 2,000 Scud launches,[49] Afghanistan saw the greatest concentration of ballistic weapons fired since World War II.

[60][61] Twenty-eight members of the Pennsylvania National Guard were killed when a Scud struck a United States Army barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

A-10 strike aircraft flew over these zones during the day, and F-15Es fitted with LANTIRN pods and synthetic aperture radars patrolled at night.

They also practiced "shoot-and-scoot" tactics, withdrawing the launcher to a hidden location immediately after it had fired, while the launch sequence that usually took 90 minutes was reduced to half an hour.

[63] The mobility of Scud TELs allowed for a choice of firing position and increased the survivability of the weapon system to such an extent that, of the approximately 100 launchers claimed destroyed by coalition pilots and special forces in the Gulf War, not a single destruction could be confirmed afterwards.

According to NATO officials, "allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets" had detected the launch of a number (later reports said at least 6) of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria.

An American intelligence official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that missiles had been fired from the Damascus area at targets in northern Syria, where the majority of the rebels' bases and facilities are located.

Human Rights Watch inspector Ole Solvang toured the areas targeted by Scuds on 25 February, saying that he "has never seen such destruction" during his past visits to the country.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi denied the government was using ballistic weapons, even as opposition activists claimed more than 30 had been launched since December 2012.