IPRI says to Sweden's TV4 that they believe this is a Russian SS-21 (OTR-21) missile believed to have been used to deploy cluster munitions by the way the missile now looks. Likely shot from abkhazia into the port city P'ot'i.
Posted on 08/11/2008 8:19:25 PM PDT by Flavius
The SS-21 SCARAB missile (9M79) has a maximum range of 70 km and a CEP of 160 meters, while the improved composite propellant 9M79-1 (Tochka-U) has a maximum range of 120 km. The basic warhead is the 9N123F HE-Frag warhead which has 120 kg of high explosives. The 9N123K submunition warhead can probably carry either bomblets or mines. The SS-21 can also carry the AA60 tactical nuclear warhead. Other warheads are believed to include chemical, terminally guided warhead, and a smart-munition bomblet warhead. In 1981, the SS-21, a guided missile (providing improvement in both range and accuracy), began replacing the FROG in forward-deployed divisions, and 140 are were deployed as of 1988. Division-level SS-21 battalions were being consolidated into brigades in Soviet armies in East Germany.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/ss-21.htm
The OTR-21 [aka SS-21 Scarab] is a road-mobile missile launch system, designed to be deployed along with other land combat units on the battlefield. While the FROG-7 is large and inaccurate, the OTR-21 is much smaller. The missile itself can be used for precise strikes on enemy targets with tactical importance, such as control posts, bridges and storage facilities. It can be also very effective against troop concentrations and airfields, weakening the enemy overall. If needed, the FRAG-HE warhead can be replaced with a nuclear, biological or chemical warhead. The solid propellant makes the missile easier to maintain and deploy. OTR-21 units are usually managed in a brigade structure, with 18 launchers in a brigade. Each launcher is provided with 2 or 3 missiles. The vehicle is completely amphibious, with a maximum road speed of 60 km/h and 8 km/h in water. It is NBC-protected. The system has been in development since 1968. Subsequently, three variants have been created.Full TextThe initial variant OTR-21 Tochka (Scarab A) entered service with the Soviet Army in 1975. The missile has a weight of 2 000 kg. Its warhead is 482 kg of conventional HE, fragmentation or nuclear. The minimal range is about 15 km, and the maximum range is 70 km, and CEP is estimated to be about 150 m. The guidance system is inertial. The lethal radius of the conventional warhead is more than 200 m. The length of the missile is 6.4 m, its diameter - 0,65 m.
An improved variant, the Scarab B (Tochka-U), has been introduced in 1989. The range is increased to 120 km by improving the propellant. CEP is less than 95 m. A third variant, Scarab C, has also been developped in the 90s, with a range of 185 km, a weight of 1 800 kg and even a smaller CEP. North Korea is known to have developed a local variant, the KN-2, by reverse-engineering Syrian-supplied Scarab A missiles.[1]
One of suspected uses of the OTR-21 Tochka in combat came on October 21, 1999 during the Second Chechen War. On that date U.S. military surveillance systems tracked a launch of five to six short-range missiles from within Russia that landed in the city of Grozny. The missiles struck a marketplace and maternity ward, resulting in at least 143 fatalities...[2]
no dude anything coming from there is just a big snafu
Or just make them dissappear around midnight. Might be a good test for the new Raptor aircraft.
IPRI says to Sweden's TV4 that they believe this is a Russian SS-21 (OTR-21) missile believed to have been used to deploy cluster munitions by the way the missile now looks. Likely shot from abkhazia into the port city P'ot'i.
P.S. They have no need to.
I think that this is also a message to the Poles and Czechs.
Putin is showing them that when they have a confrontation with Russia that they will be own their own. The United States will not help you.
You need to re-consider your choice.
Well, he used chemical weapons on the Chechens. This dude is either crazy or he’s got an ace in the hole.
Can our sat birds tell if the warheads are tactical nuke?
well the conventional ones already landed and i guess 4 are systems are deployed per division
thats beyond my armchair capabilities
They are probably afraid to move more troops out, because then only the youths will be left withing the country
I say take them out. Make nicey-nice later, but now we have no choice but to take them out.
well apparently they are doing their shock and awe
its landing cluster bombs and apparently each division has
4 of the units
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.