Release the Scud: The Story of the Soviet Union’s Infamous Ballistic Missile
Named for their rapid downwards plunge after a rocket boosted journey beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, ballistic missiles inspire a pants soaking dread exceeding the terror of manned aircraft and conventional artillery. Their flight behaviour makes them much harder to shoot down than airplanes; retaliation is hindered by their launchers being easier to hide than airfields and possessing longer ranges than most tube and multiple rocket launchers. Countries whose armies and air forces got crushed on and above the battlefield have found ballistic missiles to be the only means to get even. The final years of World War 2 introduced the world to these devices when German V2s (Vergeltungswaffe — Revenge Weapons) rained down on Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and The Netherlands; the Cold War’s defining ballistic missile would only gain global recognition towards the end of that era: the R-17 Elbrus, better known to Joe Public as the Scud.
Scud (skʌd) definitions:
1) Maritime term for a driving burst of rain and snow.
2) A mass of clouds driven in a straight line by wind.
3) A family of Soviet developed tactical ballistic missiles.
While strategic ballistic missiles designed to annihilate entire cities preoccupied the…
