|
| Spanish |
| German |
| French |
| Russian |
The following list gives some idea of weaponry Israel holds in its arsenal:
Once described as a "textiles factory" by David Ben-Gurion, Dimona is made up of separate blocks. Currently, there are nine of these blocks, called machons. Machons 1, 2, 8 and 9 are directly involved in producing materials for nuclear or thermo-nuclear weapons; the others provide services for these four. It actually produces about 40 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium every year and has been doing so for 10 and possibly 20 years. The entire facility is protected by anti-aircraft defences and is located 8.5 miles from the town of the same name. Given that about four kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium are used in each nuclear weapon, Israel has produced enough plutonium at Dimona to construct between 100 and 200 nuclear weapons. It has also produced about 170 kilograms of Lithium-6, which would produce about 220 kilograms of lithium-6 deuteride. Roughly 6 kilograms are needed to construct a thermo-nuclear weapon. Israel could, therefore, have as many as 35 thermo-nuclear weapons.
Machon 1, the domed structure, is the reactor built by France. Machon 2 is the reprocessing plant which removes the plutonium produced in the reactor. It also contains an operation that separates the isotope lithium-6 from natural lithium for ultimate use in thermonuclear weapons. This is the key facility and the primary target in any raid on the center. Without it, there is no nuclear weapons development. Of the 2,700 employees at Dimona, only 150 are permitted access to Machon 2, which extends six floors underground.
Machon 8 contains a gas centrifuge for the production of enriched uranium, an alternative fissile material, by an advanced laser enrichment process. Machon 9 contains a laser isotope separation facility which can be used to enrich uranium and to increase the proportion of isotope plutonium-239 in plutonium. The facility's reactor is now 35 years old and thus reaching the end of its practical lifetime.
Palmikhim is where missiles and rockets are assembled and tested. It is the main research and development facility. The US believes that Israel has a capability to develop and launch ICBM's (and is thus a danger to the entire world), although it has never tested one.
Satellite photos of the area show an airfield with one runway and seven large hangars (suitable for cargo-liners) inside the security zone. In addition, there are other manufacturing facilities inside the zone. The missile assembly building is at the south end of the security zone, as is the launch site. Some sources indicate that Palmikhim may also be home to an airborne command post that would be used in wartime. Other sources suggest it is located in a hangar at Lod Airport.
Beyond nuclear weapons, Israel has biological and chemical weapons as well as the means to deliver them, primarily the Jericho missile.
A 1989 Defense Intelligence Agency report, obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council, reported that Israel's Jericho missiles could carry high explosive or chemical warheads as well as nuclear. The country's leading chemical and biological warfare facility is at Nes Zionyaa, outside Tel Aviv. The Israeli Institute for Bio-Technology is the home of both offensive and defensive research.
Eilabun located near the town of the same name just west of the Sea of Gallilee off Route 65 is Israel's second weapons storage facility. Tactical nuclear shells and landmines are among its contents. The landmines stored here would be taken to holes previously dug along the base of the Golan Heights during a crisis with Syria. The U.S. and Russia both had such landmines, but have abandoned them. The artillery shells could be used to devastate targets as far away as Damascus.
Clearly visible from space, the facility appears as a network of roads linking bunkers spaced about 25 yards apart. There are about 70 bunkers. The facility, also off Israel's Route 38, is heavily guarded and surrounded by a perimeter road and security fences. It is possible that Tirosh is the strategic weapons storage site, while Eilabun is the tactical weapons storage site.
Tel Nof is home to Israel's "Black Squadrons," the F-4 and F-16 units assigned to the nuclear strike mission. A large airbase off Route 4, it is located only a few miles from both Tirosh and Hirbat Zekharyah. Like the two other nuclear facilities, Tel Nof is just south of Tel Aviv. Several aircraft are believed to be on 24-hour alert at the base. In 1973, eight F-4's were on alert and could have been ordered to drop nuclear bombs on Egyptian and Syrian targets. It is possible that today some of the 24 F-15E "Strike Eagles" are stationed there. The "Strike Eagles" were originally developed as a tactical nuclear bomber and it is the only Israeli aircraft capable of flying a round-trip to Iran without refueling.
Situated near the town of Zekharyah between Jerusalem and the sea. The mobile Jericho-I and Jericho-II missiles, Israel's strategic rockets, are deployed at this base and constitute the so-called "second wing" of the Israeli Air Force. In satellite photos, about 100 missile emplacements can be seen, evenly divided between the short-range Jericho-I and the medium-range Jericho-II. Jericho-I range is about 500 miles while Jericho-II has a range of about 750 miles. They are kept inside tunnels dug into limestone formations that are prevalent in the area, and rolled out for firing. In December 1990, just before the Gulf War, Israel test-fired a Jericho from Zekharyah. Another Pentagon document states that the missiles can carry high-explosive, chemical or nuclear warheads.
Soreq is near the town of Yavne and shares a security zone with the highly secret Palmichim Air Base. According to a 1987 Pentagon study obtained by NBC News, "The Soreq Center runs the full nuclear gamut of activities required for nuclear weapons design and fabrication". It houses the national weapons laboratories and is considered to be among the most sophisticated operation in the world. It handles weapons design and construction as well as research. It is involved in research into nuclear explosive detonation as well as the diagnosis of radiation effects on biological systems, including human beings, and the processing of various nuclear fuels. A Pentagon study - now ten years old - concluded that "as far as nuclear technology is concerned, the Israelis are roughly where the U.S. was in the fission weapon field from about 1955 to 1960," a time when the US was moving from nuclear to thermonuclear weapons.
The facility is built around a five megawatt reactor supplied by the United States under the "Atoms for Peace" program in 1960. The U.S. supplied it with nuclear fuel through 1977.
Just outside the town of Be'er Yaakov lies Israel's main missile assembly facility. There, in a long building, the Jericho and Arrow missiles as well as the Shavit launch vehicle are assembled. The Jericho's and Shavit are assembled in one area, the Arrow in another. The U.S. has expressed concern about the proximity of the two assembly halls since the U.S. provides technology for the development of the Arrow - a missile meant to improve on the Patriot anti-missile system. The U.S. also views the Jericho as a missile proliferation problem.
The "Bor" is Israel's underground command post. Located beneath the Defense Ministry complex in Tel Aviv. Israeli officials can command a war from the facility and there are other facilities of a similar but less strategic nature around the country.
Rafael is a high-tech weapons research and development organisation. The Haifa area is home to several Rafael facilities. Rafael has been responsible for the actual assembly of Israeli nuclear weapons since the first two weapons were built in late 1966 but now concentrates on ballistic missiles. A more modern and remote facility at Yodefat east of Haifa is where the weapons are assembled today.
Satellite photos of the area show a highly secure underground facility. Mordechai Vanunu, a dissident Israeli nuclear scientist now jailed for speaking of the country's weapons program, told The Sunday Times of London, convoys carry plutonium from Dimona to Yodefat. In addition, a 1987 Pentagon report describes warheads and Mach-7 reentry vehicles for Israel's ballistic missiles as being developed at Rafael. Rafael is home to Israel's ballistic missile research and development effort.