| title (item) | field_cer_web | field_cer_navbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FAP 3232 |
The same combination of FAP 3232 trucks and SM-90 launchers (though with the arms of their launchers retaining most of their full length) served as the mount for Ababil-100/Fath rockets, which saw relatively intensive combat deployment in 2003. Two trucks were modified in this fashion. The Ababil-100/al-Fath (or ‘al-Fatah’) was a solid-propelled, short-range ballistic missile, with a length of 6.7m, and diameter of 0.5m. It weighed 1,200kg on launch and could deliver a warhead of 260–300kg (the same as that of the Samoud II missile) over a range of more than 100km. One Ababil-100/Fath scored a direct hit on the HQ of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, US Army, on 7 April 2003, killing five and injuring at least 14 personnel. A submunition warhead filled with KB-1 bomblets from the M-87 Orkan/Ababil-50 system using a barometric fuse was never developed to full satisfaction and, apparently, never deployed in combat. (Artwork by David Bocquelet)