Description:
Prior to Desert Storm, the Rafah site served both as a liquid-propellant engine test stand and a production site related to Project 1728, Iraq's program to reverse-engineer Scud missiles.

At the end of 1987, MIC chose this location in the Al Amiriyah area to become the permanent site for workshop and administration buildings related to a proposed liquid-propellant engine production plant. Construction at the site began in December 1998, and buildings were completed several months late. In May 1988, production machinery was installed at the main and furnace workshops. Equipment included welding, flow forming machine, plasma cutting, laser cutting, and rolling and conventional milling and turning machines. In addition, Rafah received a large hydraulic press and brazing equipment. Construction was not completed by the time of the first Gulf War, and the site never went into full operation.

At the beginning of 1989, MIC decided that Project 1728 should establish a temporary static test stand at Rafah, using a steel structure (a disused oil well tower) rescued from the Basrah steel scrap yard. The structure was transported to Al-Rafah and erected. In June 1989, the first static test was made on a Volga engine to test the performance of the new stand. Shortly thereafter, engineers decided they needed a larger test stand, using similar material as the first stand. This larger stand was erected near the old one; most of the Scud engine tests prior to Desert Storm were conducted on this stand.

The Rafah site was struck heavily during Desert Storm, and the production halls were damaged severely (although much equipment escaped destruction). In 1992, the larger test stand was destroyed by UNSCOM, while the smaller five-ton thrust stand was allowed to be used for Iraq's non-proscribed missiles. Thereafter, all static testing of liquid-propellant engines and missiles took place at Rafah. At the time of UNSCOM's departure, Rafah activities were directed by the Karama State Establishment.

Coalition forces struck Rafah during Operation Desert Fox.

During his presentation to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003, Secretary of State Powell noted that, after the departure of UNSCOM inspectors, Iraq had built a new test stand at Rafah that "is larger than anything it has ever had." Powell added that the new stand was "clearly intended for long-range missiles that can fly 1,200 kilometers," and provided a April 2002 photo of the site.

Key Sources: UN Inspection data; Interview data; Colin L. Powell, "Remarks to the United Nations Security Council," 5 February 2003 <http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2003/17300.htm>.

	Updated October 2003