SS-21 SCARAB (9K79 Tochka)
The SS-21 SCARAB (9K79 Tochka) single-stage, short-range, tactical-ballistic missile is transported and fired from the 9P129 6x6 wheeled transporter erector launcher. It is supported by a tactical transloader (9T218) and a 9T238 missile transporter trailer towed by a ZIL-131 truck. The 9P129 TEL crew compartment is in the forward section and the missile compartment behind. During transport the missile is enclosed with the warhead in a temperature-controlled casing.
The SS-21 SCARAB missile (9M79) has a maximum range of 70 km and a CEP of 160 meters, while the improved composite propellant 9M79-1 (Tochka-U) has a maximum range of 120 km. The basic warhead is the 9N123F HE-Frag warhead which has 120 kg of high explosives. The 9N123K submunition warhead can probably carry either bomblets or mines. The SS-21 can also carry the AA60 tactical nuclear warhead. Other warheads are believed to include chemical, terminally guided warhead, and a smart-munition bomblet warhead.
In 1981, the SS-21, a guided missile (providing improvement in both range and accuracy), began replacing the FROG in forward-deployed divisions, and 140 are were deployed as of 1988. Division-level SS-21 battalions were being consolidated into brigades in Soviet armies in East Germany.
On 21 October 1999 US satellites [reportedly the Defense Support Program] tracked two Russian short-range ballistic missile launched from the Russian city of Mozdok some 60 miles northeast of Grozny. The missiles slammed into a crowded Grozny marketplace and a maternity ward, killing at least 143 persons, according to reports from the region. The missiles are believed by intelligence analysts to have been SS-21s.
| Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| USA Code Name | SS-21 | |
| Nato Code Name: | Scarab | |
| Russian Designation: | 9K79 | |
| Range: | 120 Km | |
| Stages: | 1 | |
| Fuel: | Solid | |
| Inservice: | Current System | |
| Notes: | Replacement for FROG -7 System. Very Mobile | |
| Contractor | ||
| Entered Service | ||
| Total length | ||
| Diameter | ||
| Wingspan | ||
| Weight | ||
| Warhead Weight | ||
| Propulsion | ||
| Maximum Speed | ||
| Guidance mode | ||
| Single-shot hit probability | ||
References
- "Missile terror" By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times October 29, 1999
