Breaking news
Yemen Shiite Rebels fired a Scud missile into Saudi Arabia which was shut down 10606151.
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Defence & Security News - Yemen / Saudi Arabia
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| Yemen Shiite Rebels fired a Scud missile into Saudi Arabia which was shut down. | |||
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According the press agency Reuters, Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its army allies fired a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia which the kingdom says it shot down on Saturday, June 6, 2015, in a major escalation of two months of war.
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 Scud missile mobile launch unit |
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In the first use of the long range ballistic Scud in the conflict, the missile was fired early Saturday morning at the city of Khamees Mushait in the kingdom's southwest and was intercepted by two Patriot missiles, a statement by the Saudi military said.
The area is home to the largest air force base in southern Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, but there are no oil facilities in the vicinity. Al Masira, the Houthi group's official channel, confirmed the launch and said it targeted the Prince Khaled air base.Yemen has acquired Scud ballistic missile in 1978, with the delivery one Scud-B brigade with twelve mobile launcher units from Soviet Union. Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Scud missile can be fitted with HE, chemical, or nuclear warhead. The missile is launched vertically from a mobile platform and it has a maximum range of 300 km. There is 4 main variants of the Scud missile. The ‘Scud A’ was 10.3 m long and had a diameter of 0.88 m. The missile had a range of 190 km and was accurate to about three km CEP. In 1958 the missile was equipped with a 50 kT nuclear warhead and designated the R-11M. The R-17 ‘Scud B’ was an upgrade over the ‘Scud A’ that became operational in 1962. The missile is 11.25 m long, 0.88 m in diameter, and has a launch weight of 5,900 kg. It has a range of 300 km with accuracy of 450 m CEP. The ‘Scud C’ is believed to be an improved version of the SS-1C ‘Scud B’. It is 11.25 m in length, 0.88 m in diameter, and has a launch weight of 6,400 kg. The missile has a range of 550 km with a payload of 600 kg. The Scud-D is a tactical system designed for attacking theater targets. The missile is believed to be 12.29 m in length, 0.88 m in diameter, with a launch weight of 6,500 kg. Reports claim that it has a range of 300 km with a payload of 985 kg. This payload would carry a single separating warhead with accuracy of 50 m CEP. |
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