The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 1123: Thousands of Artillery Bombardments and Saturation Attacks
Panshan Group Headquarters.

Liu Tao received the intelligence immediately and knew that the Iraq War had broken out.

I have to say that George Walton is really full of martial virtues.

Now the US military has not yet ended the war in Afghanistan, and a large number of troops are trapped in the Afghan battlefield, but it can't wait to open a second front, launching the Iraq War and attacking Iraq.

In terms of military strength, Iraq is much stronger than Afghanistan.

Moreover, this time, the United States cannot use Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as a springboard. The sea area has been blocked by Iraqi mines, and it can only choose to launch a ground offensive from the Kurdish mountainous area in northeastern Iraq.

Iraq has built comprehensive fortifications in the Kurdish mountainous area, and it is not easy for the United States to break through the Kurdish mountainous area's defense line.

Liu Tao estimated that the body bags prepared by the US military might not be enough.

More and more information reached Liu Tao.

"My goodness! Iraq was very decisive this time. It launched a counterattack at the first time. The British and American military bases in Cyprus suffered devastating blows, causing thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries." Liu Tao looked at the intelligence sent back by Cyprus and was amazed.

Faced with a large number of incoming missiles, fighter jets and bombers, the two military bases were helpless.

Facts have proved that no matter how powerful the air defense system is, it is unable to intercept large numbers of missiles and aircraft.

Moreover, after the air defense missile is launched, it takes time to reload the missile.

This kind of saturation attack poses a serious challenge to the air defense system.

Sure enough, Saddam, who suffered a great loss in the Gulf War, still listened to the advice and did not bury the planes in the desert or leave the missiles in the warehouse to gather dust.

In recent years, Saddam has purchased a large number of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles from the international arms market, including more than 2000 Scud missiles, Tochka missiles, and Oka missiles.

The Scud missile is the first generation of tactical ballistic missiles of the Soviet Union. It was first put into service in 1957. It can be equipped with conventional warheads and nuclear warheads, and is mobile and mobile. Since 1973, the Scud missile has been exported to Egypt, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Iraq and other countries. After the 90s, many countries obtained the missile, and Iraq even obtained the missile production line from the Soviet Union.

There are four types of Scud missiles. The Type A missile (served in 4) is 1957 meters long, 10.4 meters in diameter, has a launch weight of 0.84 tons, and is propelled by a monopole liquid-fuel rocket. It has a maximum flight speed of Mach 4.5, a maximum range of 5 kilometers, a circular error probable of 160 meters, and can use a 900-kilogram high-explosive warhead or a 700-kilogram nuclear warhead with a TNT equivalent of 400 tons.

Scud B missile (enter service in 1961), the missile is 11.164 meters long, 0.88 meters in diameter, 1.81 meters in wingspan, 5.9 tons in launch weight, 860 kilograms in payload, uses inertial guidance, has a circular error probability of 1000 meters, a maximum range of 300 kilometers, and a maximum speed of 1500 meters per second.

The Scud C missile (entered service in 1965) is 10.94 meters long, 0.88 meters in diameter, has a launch weight of 6.1 tons and a payload of 770 kilograms. It can use high-explosive warheads, chemical warheads, and submunitions. It has a maximum range of 500 kilometers and a circular error probability of 700 meters.

Scud D missile (served in 1980), this is the last improvement made by the Soviet Union to the Scud missile. The missile is 13.7 meters long, 0.88 meters in diameter, 6400 kilograms in launch weight, and 1000 kilograms in payload. The engine fuel compartment is further enlarged, the rocket thrust is increased, the maximum range can reach 600 kilometers, and the inertial missile system is improved, which greatly improves the hit accuracy. Tochka missile is a short-range tactical ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union in the late 20s. It is also called Scarab. The initial model was put into service in 60, and the improved model began to serve in the late 1976s. Tochka missile is used to attack single important targets and large-area targets within the tactical depth of the campaign. It uses a single-pole solid rocket engine, and the missile launcher can be amphibious. The missile is 80 meters long, 6.2 meters in diameter, and weighs 0.65 tons. It uses inertial guidance and can carry nuclear warheads and conventional warheads. The conventional warhead weighs 1.8 kilograms, with a maximum range of 250 kilometers and a hit accuracy of 185 meters.

The Oka missile is a third-generation surface-to-surface tactical missile developed by the Soviet Union in the 20s. It is nicknamed the Spider and was used by the Soviet Union to replace the Scud missile. The missile was a top-notch weapon at the time. In order to break through the US Patriot and other missile defense systems, the Oka missile adopted advanced penetration technology. The warhead is coated with radar-absorbing coatings, and the warhead carries electronic countermeasures equipment and is equipped with fake warheads and chaff decoys. It uses three complex penetration trajectories and can perform complex trajectory changes in the final stage of flight. The trajectory apex can reach 80 kilometers, and the final stage speed is as high as Mach 120, which is almost a vertical descent.

The Oka missile uses an advanced solid fuel engine. The missile is only 7.5 meters long, 0.89 meters in diameter, weighs 4.36 tons, has a maximum range of 500 kilometers, and uses advanced inertial guidance technology, with a strike accuracy of within 35 meters.

The 'Hussein' missile, which Iraq improved on the basis of the Scud, is 12.46 meters long and 0.88 meters in diameter. The weight of the warhead is reduced, and the range is increased to 630 kilometers, with a circular probable deviation of 1000 to 3000 meters. The 'Abbas' missile is 13.75 meters long and 0.88 meters in diameter. The weight of the warhead is reduced, and the range is increased to 900 kilometers.

Various types of short-range ballistic missiles have a strike range covering half of Türkiye.

On the first day, Iraqi missile brigades fired 120 Hussein missiles, 50 Abbas missiles and 20 Scud-D missiles at Cyprus, killing more than a thousand people and injuring thousands more. They also fired 790 Scud missiles of various types, 100 Tochka missiles and 80 Oka missiles at the U.S. Air Force base in Turkey, killing more than ten thousand people and injuring tens of thousands.

Especially the 'Hussein' missile and the 'Abbas' missile, the circular probability deviation is 1000~3000 meters. You can despise them from a military perspective, but from another perspective, they are a headache!

If hit by such a missile, the entire building would be reduced to rubble.

On the first day of the Iraq War, the fighting between the two sides reached a climax.

The battle also caused huge casualties and shocked the world.

This is the first time that missiles have been used on such a large scale in a war!

Such a large number of missiles also caused great trouble for the US military, because the US air defense system could not intercept so many missiles.

Add to that the missiles and bombs fired by the Iraqi Air Force, and it becomes even more of a headache.

On the first day, both sides dispatched more than 5000 military aircraft, marking the largest air battle in history since World War II.

The Joint Forces Air Force lost more than 683 aircraft of all types, and the Iraqi Air Force lost 872 aircraft of all types.

The pilots of the Joint Force Air Force were better skilled and more experienced, but the Iraqi Air Force pilots were fearless and, with the help of the air defense forces, still caused the Joint Force Air Force to suffer heavy losses.

The joint forces originally planned to launch 116 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Faced with huge losses, the joint forces supreme command changed the plan and launched 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles in 299 hours, of which 194 were intercepted by the Iraqi air defense forces, with an interception rate of 194 missiles. However, 105 missiles still landed, of which 75 hit the target.

(End of this chapter)