Military Model Scene

Title: Al-Hussein
Author: Ali Altobchi, with Tom Cooper and Adrien Fontanellaz
Publisher: Helion & Co
ISBN: 978-1-914377-18-1

Number 49 in the Middle East @ War series from Helion & Co, examining Iraqi Indigenous Conventional Arms Projects, 1980-2003. A 68-page soft-cover book and with full colour for the many archive photos.
Engaged in a long war with neighbouring Iran, Iraq worked hard to create their own independent arms production technology and facilities. I am many of us remember the news footage of the Gulf Wars, when Iraq launched long-range missiles against various targets, including in Israel, and where we first really heard of the US made Patriot anti-missile missiles and saw them on film arcing up into the night skies to intercept those attacks. The missiles used by the Iraqis were the Al Hussein, a longer range Iraqi built version of the older Soviet R17E Scud. The account of how they were developed makes interesting reading. There was much more though, and the author was an engineer who actually worked on some of these projects at the time so we get to read much more about them. The Iraqi leaderships explored so many avenues for weapons and support though all the while trying to establish their own production facilities within Iraq rather than relying on foreign suppliers. Russia in particular clearly let them down in a couple of cases. Both Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia helped with building factories in Iraq, though Russia clearly interfered even there. Then there were supplies coming from France, Austria, Brazil, South Africa and others. Not just missiles, bombs, aircraft and artillery etc. I also learnt a lot more about the Canadian weapon designer Gerald Bull. He was the designer behind the huge 1000mm Super Gun and though stopped by arms embargos there is plenty of detail here about the ideas behind this project. Then of course there is all the context of the Iran-Iraq war, along with both the first and second Gulf Wars.
These are all conventional weapons, not the idea of WMD, or chemical/nuclear weapons. The variety of projects, some successful, some not, is enlightening. Iraq had one advantage on the international market, the money it had thanks to being an oil producing nation. Well illustrated throughout with photos, there is also the usual section of colour artwork profiles, showing missiles, aircraft and ground equipment which I think will interest many modellers as well as just those studying the history of what happened in Iraq leading to the Gul Wars.
Thanks to Helion & Co for this review copy.

Robin