Al Hijarah (missile)

Last updated
al-Hijarah
Type Short-range ballistic missile
Place of origin Iraq [1] [2] [3]
Specifications

Payload capacity100-300 kg [2] [3] chemical warhead
Propellant Liquid-propelled [3]
Operational
range
700-900 km [2] [3]
Guidance
system
Inertial
References

The al-Hijarah missile was an Iraqi liquid propelled inertial Short-range ballistic missile, it was also a Scud missile and considered an upgrade of the al-Hussein missile equipped with chemical warheads. [1] It was developed by 1990 [2] and was first used in the Persian Gulf War where the al-Hijarah missile would release poison gas clouds and kill personnel on the ground, as well as ignite oil wells. [1] One al-Hijarah missile was confirmed to have been fired at Israel during the Gulf War where one landed near Dimona, it was revealed that the missile had a concrete filled warhead. [1]

Characteristics

The al-Hijarah missile warhead was probably filled with chemical weapons and biological weapons possessed by Iraq at that time like anthrax, botulinum toxin, aflatoxin, sarin, cyclosarin and VX nerve agent.[ citation needed ] The al-Hijarah missile being a version of the al Hussein also suffered from flight instability and improper guidance. [3] Iraq itself at that time was almost fully indigenous when it came to ballistic missile components and only lacked the ability to locally manufacture Gyroscopes. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Al Hussein/al-Husayn". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Ballistic Missiles in Iran's Military Thinking". Wilson Center. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Iraq". NTI. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019.