Further developed variants were the 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 nuclear, or a chemical (thickened VX) warhead. The SS-1e Scud-D variant developed in the 1980s can deliver a conventional high-explosive warhead, a fuel-air warhead, 40 runway-penetrator sub-munitions, or 100 x 5 kg anti-personnel bomblets.
All models are 11.25 meters long (except Scud-A, which is one meter shorter) and 0.88 meters in diameter. They are propelled by a single engine burning either Kerosene and Nitric acid in the Scud-A, or UDMH and RFNA (Russian SG-02 Tonka 250) in other models.
In the end the Scuds were responsible for the death of one Israeli directly and for the deaths of 28 US soldiers (the missile struck a Pennsylvania National Guard Barracks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). The hunt for Scuds used up some one third of the Coalition air power. They were easily mobile carried on the backs of transport-erector-launcher (TEL) trucks and were hard to track down; US and British special forces were often charged with hunting and destroying them behind enemy lines. Removing the threat of Scuds was of particular importance to the said parties as Israel had threatened to enter the war against Iraq if attacks continued, which would have split anti-Israel Arab states in the alliance, to the cost of the US and Britain's war effort.
The Iraqis developed four versions: Scud, longer-range Scud or Scud LR, Al Hussein, and Al Abbas. Apart from the almost unmodified weapon these were not successful missiles as they tended to break up in flight and had small warheads.
The North Korean, Iranian, and Pakistani missile programs have used Scud technology to develop missiles with ranges said to be in the 1,300-to 1,500-kilometer range.
As with some other missiles, the military advantage of this weapon consists in its ease of transportation, on a TEL vehicle. This mobility allows for a choice of firing position and increases 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).
Scud missile (including derivatives) is one of the few ballistic missiles to be used in actual warfare, second only to V2 in terms of combat launches (the Tochka-U being the only other ballistic missile fired "in anger"). Besides the aforementioned Gulf War, Scud missiles were used in several regional conflicts, most prominently by Soviet forces in Afghanistan, and by the Iranians and the Iraqis in so called "War of the cities". The latter occurred in 1988, when in response to Iranian missile strikes against Baghdad, Iraq fired 190 Scud missiles at Iranian cities including Tehran. These strikes resulted in thousands of deaths and widespread panic in Iran, perhaps resulting in a more favourable peace treaty for Iraq. There was also a small number of Scud missiles used in the 1994 civil war in Yemen and by Russian forces in Chechnya in 1996 and onwards.
Countries that possess Scud-Bs are: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Libya, Poland, Slovakia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Yemen. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt have purchased Scud-Cs in addition to Scud-Bs. Syria has acquired the Scud-D, and Iraq's Al-Hussein missile also has a Scud-D range.
| NATO | Scud-A | Scud-B | Scud-C | Scud-D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. DIA | SS-1b | SS-1c | SS-1d | SS-1e |
| Deployment Date | 1957 | 1965 | 1965 | 1980s |
| Withdrawn | 1978 | |||
| Range | 130 km | 300 km | 575-600 km | 700 km |
| CEP (NATO estimate) | 4000 m | 900 m | 900 m | 50 m |