Photo credit: National Air Intelligence Center Seventeen countries possess the SCUD B missile system.

Although the SCUD was originally designed as a tactical battlefield support weapon, many countries view it and other SRBM systems as strategic weapons to be used against urban areas. The Iraqis used extended-range SCUDs as strategic weapons during both the Iran-Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War. In the future, other countries could modify SCUDs to significantly improve their accuracy and use them against high-value military targets as well as cities.