Direct proof of use
Iraq's ballistic-missile use in the 1990 Gulf War is documented through Scud and Al Hussein reporting. CSIS identifies the Al Hussein as Iraq's improved Scud B variant and states that Iraq deployed it during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
GulfLINK's Department of Defense Scud incident review counts 88 Iraqi Scud missiles that struck in or near the Kuwait theater of operations and Israel. Its unclassified incident summaries break those attacks into 46 missiles fired into the KTO and 42 that struck in or near Israel, with attacks also reaching Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar.
Sources: CSIS R-11 Scud, GulfLINK Scud Section 4
Timeline
The ballistic-missile campaign began after the coalition air campaign opened in January 1991. The first GulfLINK eastern-KTO entries list Iraqi Scud attacks on Dhahran on January 20 and January 21, followed by further launches against Dhahran, Al Jubayl, Riyadh, Bahrain, Qatar, and Israel during the campaign.
A February 25, 1991 Scud attack on Dhahran was the deadliest documented incident in the GulfLINK table: the warhead hit a United States barracks, killing 28 and injuring more than 100. The review also records a February 16 Al Jubayl attack in which a Scud broke up over the harbor and was later recovered in parts.
Sources: GulfLINK Scud Section 4
Operational role
In theater, Iraq used the missiles as long-range strike weapons against coalition rear areas and Israel rather than as front-line fire support. GulfLINK's attack tables place impacts and intercepts around Dhahran, Al Jubayl, Riyadh, King Khalid Military City/Hafir Al Batin, Bahrain, Qatar, and Israel.
The missiles had disproportionate operational and political effects. An Air University study of counter-Scud operations says Saddam Hussein used attacks on Israel to threaten coalition unity, and that coalition counter-Scud efforts expanded rapidly once Iraq began launching missiles.
Sources: GulfLINK Scud Section 4, Air University Crossbow and Gulf War
Variant context
The conflict-use record is for the broad ballistic-missile class because Gulf War public reporting often describes the attacks as Scud or Scud-derived launches. GulfLINK says authorities later determined that Iraq fired the Al Hussein extended-range missile except for five attacks with the Al Hijarah variant.
CSIS describes the underlying Scud family as road-mobile short-range ballistic missiles, with the Scud B using inertial guidance and a single-stage liquid-propellant engine. The same source identifies Iraq as a Scud possessor and connects the Al Hussein variant to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Sources: GulfLINK Scud Section 4, CSIS R-11 Scud
