Primary function: operationally deployed missile site

Description and activities:
The Israeli Air Force reportedly has three squadrons equipped with Jericho nuclear-tipped missiles at this base 45km south of Tel-Aviv. The Sedot Mikha Jericho base is located near the town of Zekharyah, east of Ashkelon and SE of Tel Nof AB, and south of the Sorek River between Kiriat-Gat and Beit-Shemesh.

It is reported that classified satellite imagery has discovered around 100 missile emplacements, evenly divided between the Jericho-I and Jericho-II missiles, although this is disputed by other analyses. An advanced version, the Jericho-II, with a range of at least 1,500 kilometers, was reported to have been test-flown in the late 1980s. The base is built in a limestone region with numerous caves and small hills that have been hollowed out to house the Jericho-II and its transporter-erector launchers (TELs), which are rolled out for firing. It was initially believed that the Zachariah site housed hardened silos for the Jericho missiles. However, commercial satellite imagery from 1997 did not show signs of silos at the site. In December 1990, just before the first Persian Gulf War, Jericho-II missiles were put on alert for launch, and Israel test-fired a Jericho from the Sedot Mikha facility.

It is unclear how many Jericho missiles are actually deployed at Zacharia. Open source estimates vary with around 50 Jericho-II missiles being a widely cited estimate. It is also unclear whether the contention is accurate of a combination of Jericho-I and Jericho-II missile deployed as some classified reports indicate.

Key Sources: Jane's Intelligence Review, Encyclopedia Astronautica

	Updated April 2004