Iraq Special Collection
UNSCOM Photo
Nose aspect of an Ababil-100/Al-Samoud airframe mock-up. Under
the Security Council resolutions, Iraq is allowed to have missiles with
a range of less than 150 kilometers; accordingly, the Iraqis have been
working for the past six years to design such a missile. The initial name
for this missile was "Ababil-100" (not to be confused with Iraq's pre-war
Ababil program); more recently, the name has been changed to "Al-Samoud."
The propulsion system is based on a reverse-engineered version of the SA-2
surface-to-air missile engine. This photo is most likely a mock-up
of the Al-Samoud, located at a small assembly hall in the Karama State
Establishment. Note that the graphite nose cone is not yet in place.
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