Al Hussein

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Al-Hussein components

Al Hussein or al-Husayn (Arabic: الحسين) is a designation of an Iraqi ballistic missile, supposedly named after Imam Hussein.

During 1988-90, the Iraqis made strides in their indigenous rocket program, which was centered on upgrading the performance of the Scud.

Tehran, some 300 miles from the Iran-Iraq border, was outside the range of the Scud-B, which can travel a maximum distance of 300 km. To overcome this deficiency, Iraq extended the range of the basic Scud twice, apparently relying heavily on foreign technical assistance and equipment. The first upgrade, called the Al Hussein had a range of 600-650 km, allowing strikes on Tehran, Qom and Isfahan. This rocket was modified through a reduction of the payload to approximately 300 to 350 kilograms. Some 11.20 meters in length and 0.90 meters in diameter, the Al Hussein corresponds more or less to the SCUD-B (length: 11.50 meters; diameter: 0.88 meters).

Up to 200 missiles were launched on Iran, killing some 2000 people^[1]. Their poor accuracy, while mostly ineffective to achieve major strategic successes, made of them basically weapons of terror, forcing thousands of refugees out of the main Iranian cities.

The fuselage and warhead were prone to break in to fragments while re-entering the atmosphere. Ironically, it would later represent an advantage as a counter-measure against the Patriot missile during the 1991 Gulf War^[2].

The Iraqis also modified the extension of the launch rail of 11 Soviet-produced MAZ launchers to fitted them to the longer local-built missiles^[3]. The responsible for the maintenance and operation of the new missiles was initially the 224 Brigade, already established since 1976 to deal with R-17 Scuds imported from the Soviet Union since 1972.

By 1989, a second army Brigade was formed, the 223, equipped with 4 locally developed trailer launchers, known as the Al-Nida^[4]. There were also a second indigenous launcher, the Al-Waleed, but apparently it never became operational^[5].

The Al Hussein would also put most of Israel and all of Syria within striking range. Eighty-eight of these modified Scuds were fired at Saudi Arabia (46) and Israel (42) during January and February 1991^[6].

The greatest tactical success of this missile during the Gulf War was the destruction of a US military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on February 25, 1991, when 28 soldiers were killed and other 110 wounded, effectively taking out of action an entire supply company, composed mainly by reservists from Pennsylvania^[7].

One of the units involved in this incident, the 14th Quartermaster Detachment, specializing in water-purification, suffered the heaviest toll among US troops deployed in the Gulf, with eighty-one percent of its soldiers killed or wounded.