Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bu.edu!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: HANK@TAUNIVM.TAU.AC.IL (Hank Nussbacher) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Speed of SCUDS Message-ID: <1991Jan24.043901.25975@cbnews.att.com> Date: 24 Jan 91 04:39:01 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 38 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Hank Nussbacher >I read in the paper that the Iraqi modified SCUDs (Al-Hussein and >Al-Abbass?) have a speed of Mach 5. This seems excessive since >our Patriot system is supposed to "only" go Mach 3. Does anybody >have the correct speed on these two missiles? The exact speed is classified since only Iraq really knows. The original SCUD-B had a speed of about Mach 5. The al-Hussein with a range of 600km and the al-Abbas with a range of 900km have smaller warheads but also travel faster. The al-Abbas is estimated to be Mach 10 which makes it difficult for the Patriot to hit it, whereas the al-Hussein at around Mach 7 is easier since it is slower. The Patriot does not chase the Scuds but rather the radar and control systems first do acquistion, meaning determining where it started from, as well as speed. The targeting system then calculates where the Scud will be when it is 40 kilometers from its target. That is the maximum range of the Patriot. The Patriot also has a proximatey detonator that allows it to miss the Scud but yet destroy it. The 2nd Patriot shot is usually targetted at around 30 kilometers out in the event that the 1st one misses. Unfortunately last night, the Patriot system was not able to stop the incoming Scud and the two prevailing reasons are the speed of the Scud being faster than those coming in on Saudi Arabia or that the intercept angle was not set up properly. The results so far are 3 dead and 96 injured, some seriously. >Douglas Krause One yuppie can ruin your whole day. >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >University of California, Irvine Internet: dkrause@orion.oac.uci.edu >Welcome to Irvine, Yuppieland USA BITNET: DJKrause@uci.edu Hank Nussbacher Israel