The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Hizbollah's Iranian Rocket Force
by James Dunnigan
July 27, 2006
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
It's been no secret that, for years, Iran
has been shipping, through Syria, thousands of unguided rockets to
Hizbollah in Lebanon. As far back as 2001, there were reports of 240mm
Fadjr rockets arriving in Hizbollah controlled territory in southern
Lebanon. Both 240mm and 333mm Fadjr rockets are normally mounted on
modified Mercedes-Benz 2624 15 ton trucks. There are either twelve
240mm (900 pound) rockets or four 333mm (one ton) rockets. About a
third of the weight of rockets like this are the explosive charge in
the warhead. The 240mm rocket has a range of 43 kilometers, the 333mm
one, 75 kilometers. The Fadjr rockets brought into Lebanon are believed
to have come individually, to be fired from locally built launchers. If
enough care were taken in the construction of these launchers, the
Fadjrs stood a good chance of hitting large urban areas within Israel.
It the last five years, constant reports of Iranian rocket
deliveries to Hizbollah indicate that over 10,000 such missiles were
brought into southern Lebanon. Most of these rockers are the smaller
107mm and 122mm models. The B-12 is a 107mm, 42 pound, 107mm, 33 inch
long, Russian designed rocket that is very popular with terrorists.
This rocket has a range of about six kilometers and three pounds of
explosives in its warhead. Normally fired, from a launcher, in salvoes
of dozens at a time, when used individually, it is more accurate the
closer it is to the target. This 107mm design has been copied by many
nations, and is very popular with guerillas and terrorists because of
its small size and portability.
The 122mm BM-21s weigh 150 pounds and are nine feet long. These
have 45 pound warheads, but not much better accuracy than the 107mm
model. However, these larger rockets have a maximum range of 20
kilometers. Again, because they are unguided, they are only effective
if fired in salvos, or at large targets (like cities, or large military
bases or industrial complexes.)
It is believed that fewer than a hundred of the 240mm or 333mm
rockets arrived in Lebanon. There may be more of intermediate caliber
weapons (160mm), but little has been said about those. Thus it appears
that the majority of Hizbollah rockets are the smaller ones. This is
important because Hizbollah has to hide these rockets from constant
Israeli aerial and satellite surveillance. Moreover, once hostilities
begin (as they have now), it's going to be difficult to move large
rockets around. Even the 122mm rockets are nine feet long, and not easy
to conceal.
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