Al Rai, a Kuwaiti newspaper, recently reported that Syria had transferred long-range missiles to Hezbollah. Israel’s President Shimon Peres then raised the issue of Scud transfers during a visit to Paris last week. U.S. officials recently said that, while there was intent on Syria’s part and “a transfer of some kind occurred” it is unclear whether the rockets themselves have actually been moved into Lebanon.
Below is an overview of the Scud-D missile, the most advanced Syrian Scud missile, as well as more about Hezbollah’s known surface-to-surface missile capability.
Missile Overview
Name: Scud-D*
Type: Surface-to-surface missile (SSM)
Dimensions: ~11 meters or 36 feet
Weight: 6,500 kg
Range: ~700 km; provides Hezbollah with capability to strike almost any location in Israel from northern Lebanon
CEP (circular error of probability): 3 kilometers
Delivery capability: 500 kg chemical, biological or high explosive warheads
Launching mechanism: Weapon is fired from large transporter vehicle, which takes 45 minutes to prepare, and is assisted with support vehicles.
* It is unknown whether the Scud D is Russian-made or Syrian-altered version of the North Korean Hwasong 7.
Hezbollah’s SSM Arsenal
Providing a detailed and accurate account of Hezbollah’s SSM arsenal that can be fully verified through open source material is not possible. However, the information below provides an overview of the rockets Hezbollah is thought to have.
During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, Hezbollah fired mainly Katuysha rockets into Israel, which range from 20 to 25 kilometers. Additional missiles Hezbollah used in the fighting or is thought to have include Syrian Ra’ad rockets (range of 45 kilometers), Fajr 3 (45 kilometers), Fajr 5 (70-75 kilometers) and Zelzel rockets (115-220 kilometers). Hezbollah is also thought to have M600 missiles, a version of the Iranian Fateh-110. This missile can carry a 500 kg warhead (similar to the Scud) with a range of 250 km and a CEP of 500 meters, which is more accurate than the Scud. It cannot carry a chemical weapon, which Hezbollah is not known to have. The M600 is also easier to store, handle and use than the Scud.
Sourcing: Nicholas Blanford’s article “Israel claims Syria has transferred ‘Scuds’ to Hizbullah” written April 16, 2010 in Jane’s Defense Weekly, the Center for Strategic and International Studies “The Lessons of the Israel-Hezbollah War,” and various news reports.
