This annotated chronology is based on the data sources that follow each entry. Public sources often provide conflicting information on classified military programs. In some cases we are unable to resolve these discrepancies, in others we have deliberately refrained from doing so to highlight the potential influence of false or misleading information as it appeared over time. In many cases, we are unable to independently verify claims. Hence in reviewing this chronology, readers should take into account the credibility of the sources employed here.
Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.
Phase II: South Africa-Israel Cooperation Begins, 1968-1989
Israeli politicians form the Israel-South Africa Friendship League to foster business and encourage general relations between the two nations. [Note: Israel is still suffering fallout among African nations after the 1967 war and is eager to improve its tenuous relations with South Africa. Menachem Begin is president of the organization when he becomes prime minister in 1977.]
—James Adams, The Unnatural Alliance (London: Quartet Books, 1984), p. 23.
The US National Security Council adopts a policy of diplomatic rapprochement toward South Africa, which includes resumption of regular military and intelligence consultation between the two countries. Nuclear cooperation initiated in the 1940s, including US enrichment of South African uranium and technical exchanges, continues uninterrupted.
—Caleb Rossiter, The Bureaucratic Struggle for Control of U.S. Foreign Aid: Diplomacy vs. Development in Southern Africa (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1985), p. 48.
Prime Minister John Vorster informs parliament that nuclear scientists have developed a unique uranium enrichment process involving jet-nozzle enrichment and a sophisticated cascade technique.
—Seymour Hersh, The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (New York: Random House, 1989), p. 266.
Israel begins producing a ballistic missile known as the Jericho I, at a rate of three to six missiles per month. The missiles have a 300-mile range with a 1,000-1,500kg payload. [Note: The Jericho I is reportedly ready to enter service in 1971 but never becomes operational.]
—Seth W. Carus, "Israeli Ballistic Missile Developments," Testimony before the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, 15 July 1998, <http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/missile/rumsfeld/pt2_carus2.htm>.
The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 282, calling on member states to revoke all licenses and military patents granted to the South African government or to South African companies for the manufacture of arms and ammunition, aircraft and naval craft, or other military vehicles. It also prohibits investment or technical assistance for the manufacture of these items.
—Timothy U. Mozia, "Chronology of Arms Embargoes against South Africa," in Effective Sanctions on South Africa: The Cutting Edge of Economic Intervention, George W. Shepherd, Jr., ed. (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991), pp. 97-98.
South Africa provides Israel with depleted uranium and natural uranium rods.
—US Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, "New Information on South Africa’s Nuclear Program and South African-Israeli Nuclear and Military Cooperation," 30 March 1983, top-secret report partially declassified and released 27 April 1997, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 17.
According to a 1983 US intelligence report, "[deleted passage] indicates that South Africa formally launch(es) a weapons program in 1973, and scientists are instructed to develop gun-assembly, implosion, and thermonuclear weapons designs."
—US Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, "Africa Report," 8 December 1989, top secret report partially declassified released 7 May 1996, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 7.
The Propulsion Division at Somerset West, a new missile research institute, is established under the National Institute for Defense Research (NDIR) with the task of developing the production process for missiles, warheads, propellants, and propulsion systems.
—Signe Landgren, Embargo Disimplemented: South Africa's Military Industry (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 104.
Israeli-South African arms sales and joint trade grow from $30 to $100 million within a three-year period. South Africa’s Jewish population of 118,000 becomes more vocal in support of Israel's conservative political parties.[Note: Hersh does not indicate the proportional direction of trade.]
—Seymour Hersh, The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (New York: Random House, 1989), p. 265.
A US CIA report concludes that research on both a gun-type device, using two modified naval guns, and on the firing system of an implosion device was conducted at the Somerset West explosives installation in South Africa.
—US Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, "New Information on South Africa's Nuclear Program and South African-Israeli Nuclear and Military Cooperation," 30 March 1983, top-secret report partially declassified and released 27 April 1997, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 17.
Syria and Egypt attack Israel, beginning the October 1973 War. [Note: The war results in all but three black African states (Malawi, Lesotho, and Swaziland) breaking off relations with Israel, eliminating much of the need for Israel to keep its growing relationship with South Africa secret.]
—James Adams, The Unnatural Alliance (London: Quartet Books, 1984), pp. 23, 35-36; "Arab-Israeli Wars," [undated], Encyclopedia Britannica Online, <http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=8252>.
Following the October 1973 War, in which South Africa provided Israel with an emergency supply of Mirage fighter parts, Israel upgrades the status of its mission in South Africa to an embassy.
—US Central Intelligence Agency, National Foreign Assessment Center, "Africa Report," Supplement, 8 June 1981, secret report partially declassified and released 7 May 1996, <http://foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 2.
Following October 1973 War, Israel approaches the United States in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the Pershing I missile. [Note: The attempt indicates that the Jericho I missile, which has identical range as the Pershing, is not operational.]
—Center for Nonproliferation Studies interview with missile engineer familiar with technical dimensions of South African missile program who wishes to remain anonymous.
South Africa and Israel strengthen military cooperation. Both nations feel isolated and surrounded by implacable enemies and fear that an alliance between Arab and black African States will threaten the survival of both countries.
—William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem, Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superpowers in a Fragmented World (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), p. 449.
Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and South African President John Vorster hold a secret meeting in Geneva. The two reportedly sign an agreement for strategic cooperation between the two countries. The agreement is a mutual defense pact according to which "the two countries would assist each other in wartime by supplying spare parts and ammunition from emergency stocks. Each country agreed that its territory would be used to store all types of weapons for the other country." According to Dieter Gerhardt, a senior commander in the South African Navy who for many years spied for the Soviet Union, under a later clause in the agreement called "Chalet," Israel agreed to arm eight Jericho II missiles with "special warheads" for South Africa.
—"Treasons of Conscience," Weekly Mail & Guardian, 11 August 2000, <http://www.sn.apc.org/wmail>.
A US DIA intelligence appraisal reports, "the most significant military transaction between Israel and South Africa is the possible sale of SAAR IV (RESHEF) missile patrol boats complete with Gabriel surface-to-surface missiles." Three boats would be purchased from Israel and three more would be built in South Africa. Israeli Gabriel missiles are reportedly sold to South Africa for use in a new construction program for patrol boats. South Africa also obtains Centurion tanks and components from Israel.
—US Defense Intelligence Agency, "South Africa-Israel Cooperation," 2 July 1976, classified intelligence appraisal declassified and partially released, Digital National Security Archive, <http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/>.
French President Giscard D'Estaing announces that France, South Africa's most important arms supplier, will no longer issue new sales agreements for "long-range or aerial weapons" although it will continue to honor outstanding agreements.
—UN Department of Disarmament Affairs, South Africa’s Nuclear Tipped Ballistic Missile Capability (New York: United Nations, 1991), p. 45.
The withdrawal of Portugal from Mozambique and Angola, as well as concerns about the intentions of Warsaw Pact countries, leads the South African government to believe that in the event of a direct threat to its territorial integrity, it would not be able to rely on the international community for assistance. [Note: Portugal was South Africa’s strongest ally in the region, and international pressure to abolish apartheid is mounting.]
—William Gutteridge, South Africa's Defence and Security into the 21st Century (Aldershot, UK: Dartmouth, 1996), p. 31.
An official Israeli delegation visiting Pretoria reportedly is told by a South African official: "You are a minority in your region, and so are we. You are surrounded by millions of enemies, and so are we. The Arabs want to throw you into the sea, and the blacks want to throw us out of Africa. You have won in the past, and you will win again, because you have no alternative. The same is true for us." [Note: This encapsulates the sentiment underlying what some call "The Unnatural Alliance"” between Israel and South Africa. James Adams authors a book with this title in 1984.]
—Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, "Has Congress Doomed Israel’s Affair With South Africa?," Washington Post, 22 February 1987, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.
The government of Portugal announces its withdrawal from Angola.
—Kenneth Mokoena, ed., South Africa and the United States: The Declassified History (New York: The New Press, 1993), p. 19.
South Africa supplies Israel with steel for its Merkhava battle-tank. In return, Israel gives South Africa the production information for a new type of armor plate.
—James Adams, The Unnatural Alliance (London: Quartet Books, 1984), pp. 110-111.
The South African Air Force (SAAF) employs Buccaneer S MK 50 bombers to practice nuclear weapon delivery techniques. The Buccaneers drop conventional bombs to destroy a decommissioned World War II salvage ship off the coast of Cape Town. The bombers release the conventional bombs three to five miles away from the target, and "then pulled up sharply and veered away." The SAAF describes the exercise as using a "computerized technique to deliver nuclear bombs and escape the effect of the resulting explosions."
—US Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, "Trends in South Africa’s Nuclear Security Policies and Programs," 4 October 1984, top-secret report partially declassified and released 27 April 1997, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 17.
Soviet Union provides a total of $4 billion in military assistance to Angola.
—Laurent C.W. Kaela, The Question of Namibia (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996), p. 115.
South African Prime Minister John Vorster visits Israel and signs an agreement on scientific, financial, and economic cooperation with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The agreement also provides for upgrading diplomatic representation and the visit of Israeli ministers to South Africa.
—Eschel Rhoodie, The Real Information Scandal (Pretoria: Orbis, 1983), p. 116.
Israel begins development of the Jericho II missile, possibly with funding from Iran. The Israeli designation is reported to be YA-3.
—Jane’s Strategic Weapon Systems 36, "Offensive Weapons, Israel, Jericho I/2 (YA-1/YA-3)," 24 July 2001, <http://online.janes.com/>.
The Atomic Energy Board (AEB) establishes nuclear weapons research and design and production facilities at Pelindaba and develops a nuclear strategy. Under Prime Minister P.W. Botha, the strategy consists of three phases. The first phase entails perpetuating strategic uncertainty regarding South Africa’s nuclear capabilities. In a second phase, if threatened by an overwhelming conventional military threat and the West proves unwilling to intervene on its behalf, South Africa would covertly acknowledge the existence of its nuclear weapons to key Western powers. The third phase would consist of publicly acknowledging the existence of its nuclear stockpile, conducting an underground test, or detonating a nuclear explosion on the surface.
—David Albright, "South Africa’s Secret Nuclear Weapons," ISIS Report, Institute for Science and International Security, May 1994, <http://www.isis-online.org/publications/southafrica/ir0594.html>.
Possible tests of nuclear-related high explosives are conducted at the Kalahari test site. South Africa considers constructing a plutonium-separation facility. The South African enrichment plant at Valindaba begins producing highly enriched uranium (HEU), and the CIA estimates that it has produced sufficient HEU for "several nuclear weapons." A CIA report states that the test site in the Kalahari Desert is intended for nuclear weapons, and that South African scientists expect a yield of 20 kilotons, if they test a nuclear weapon.
—US Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, "New Information on South Africa’s Nuclear Program and South African-Israeli Nuclear and Military Cooperation," 30 March 1983, top-secret report partially declassified and released 27 April 1997, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 17.
Israel exchanges 30 grams of tritium for 50 tons of South African uranium. The tritium is flown in twelve shipments of 2.5 grams each during an 18-month period. [Note: Israeli-South African nuclear cooperation paves the way for future collaboration in ballistic missile development.]
—William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem, Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superpowers in a Fragmented World (New York: Schuster & Schuster, 1994), p. 451.
The World Conference for Action against Apartheid urges states and firms to cease all assistance and cooperation enabling South Africa to acquire nuclear technology.
—Neta C. Crawford and Audie Klotz, eds., How Sanctions Work: Lessons from South Africa (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999), p. 284.
Israeli Minister of Defense Shimon Peres travels to Iran to sign six secret oil-for-arms agreements, which include missile technology. The deal collapses in 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini assumes power in Iran. Israel turns to South Africa and offers a similar agreement in return for coal and other goods. Israel requires a new partner if it is to develop its expensive new missiles, and Pretoria considers that its own version of the Jericho I would be considerably more accurate than the Scud, and a potentially lucrative item for ARMSCOR (Armaments Corporation of South Africa) to offer on the world market.
— William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem, Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superpowers in a Fragmented World (New York: Schuster & Schuster, 1994), pp. 451-452; Gerald M. Steinberg, "Israel: Case Study for International Missile Trade and Nonproliferation," in William C. Potter and Harlan W. Jenks, eds., The International Missile Bazaar: The New Suppliers Network (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994), p. 242.
UN Security Council Resolution 418 calls for a mandatory embargo of arms shipments to South Africa.
—Rita M. Byrnes, ed., South Africa: A Country Study (Washington, DC: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1997), p. xxix; Timothy U. Mozia, "Chronology of Arms Embargoes against South Africa," in George W. Shepherd, Jr., ed., Effective Sanctions on South Africa: The Cutting Edge of Economic Intervention (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 98.
Israel announces compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 418, which calls for a mandatory embargo of arms shipments to South Africa.
—Timothy U. Mozia, "Chronology of Arms Embargoes against South Africa," in George W. Shepherd, Jr., ed., Effective Sanctions on South Africa: The Cutting Edge of Economic Intervention (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 103.
Kentron Missiles, a subsidiary of ARMSCOR (Armaments Corporation of South Africa), is formed to undertake work in research and development of missile technology.
—Signe Landgren, Embargo Disimplemented: South Africa's Military Industry (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 104.
The South African foreign minister abruptly leaves proximity talks on Namibian independence and insists that South Africa retain 3,000 troops in Namibia.
—Laurent C.W. Kaela, The Question of Namibia (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996), pp. 106-107.
The South African government rejects a UN plan for establishing an independent Namibia.
—Kenneth Mokoena, ed., South Africa and the United States: The Declassified History (New York: The New Press, 1993), p. 26; Milton R. Benjamin, "U.N. Appears Ready to Press On With Its Plan for Namibia," Washington Post, 22 September 1978, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.
Peter W. Botha becomes Prime Minister of South Africa pledging that the ruling National Party "will not bend our knees before Marxism or revolution."
—Kenneth Mokoena, ed., South Africa and the United States: The Declassified History (New York: The New Press, 1993), p. 27; "S. Africa Picks Hard-Liner; Botha As New Premier; Botha Expected to Continue Vorster’s Racial Policies," Washington Post, 28 September 1978, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.
The discovery of a probable nuclear test site in the Kalahari Desert, and the “international uproar” that follows, leads Prime Minister Vorster to "order a halt to further nuclear weapons development." A CIA report concludes that there is no "direct indication of any subsequent activities in the weapons program."
—US Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, "New Information on South Africa’s Nuclear Program and South African-Israeli Nuclear and Military Cooperation," 30 March 1983, top-secret report partially declassified and released 27 April 1997, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 17.
A US Vela surveillance satellite detects a "brief, intense, double flash of light near the southern tip of Africa." Due to its characteristics, the US officials estimate that the flash could have resulted from the test of a nuclear device with a yield of 2 to 4 kilotons. South Africa emerges "as the prime suspect," but the South African government denies that it has conducted a nuclear test. There are also rumors that Israel conducted a nuclear test, either alone or in conjunction with South Africa. US President Jimmy Carter assembles a panel of non-governmental scientists to determine whether the flash registered by the Vela was the result of a nuclear explosion. [Note: Subsequent information indicates that South Africa did not possess sufficient highly enriched uranium (HEU) to conduct a nuclear weapons test at this time.]
—David Albright and Corey Gay, "A Flash from the Past," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November/December 1997, <http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/1997/nd97/nd97albright.html>.
ARMSCOR’s (Armaments Corporation of South Africa) nuclear assembly group places strong emphasis on weapons certification and qualification. A unique feature of ARMSCOR’s weapon design is the capability to mate air-deliverable warheads to ballistic missiles. South Africa is able to mount its limited nuclear stockpile on either aircraft or ballistic missiles.
—Roy E. Horton III, "Out of (South) Africa: Pretoria’s Nuclear Weapons Experience," USAF Institute for National Security Studies, Occasional Paper #27, [undated], <http://www.usafa.af.mil/inss/ocp27.htm>.
Ari Benashe, an Israeli secret service defector, claims that during the 1980s, ARMSCOR (Armaments Corporation of South Africa) "in cooperation with US foreign policy in the Gulf" and with the approval of then Vice President George Bush and endorsement of the CIA, supplied Iraq with artillery and missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and technology necessary to produce nuclear-tipped warheads.
—Ben Menashe Ari, Profits of War inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network (New York: Sheriden Square Press, 1992); Arthur Gavshon, "Israeli Defector Discloses 'Saddam Gate' Role," Weekly Mail (Johannesburg), 16 October 1992, pp. 1-2, cited in Proliferation Issues, 28 October 1992, pp. 1-2.
The Overberg Test Range (OTR) is developed by Houwteq as part of South Africa's ballistic missile and space program. It is located near Bredasdorp, 200km east of Cape Town, on the southeastern coast of the Western Cape. The facility has a total area of 43,000 hectares. The launch sites are located on the coast just northeast of Waenhuiskrans, while the launch vehicle and payload assembly facilities are located at an adjacent air base. The OTR site also includes tracking stations, thermal vacuum chambers for equipment testing, insulated hangars for firing tests, computer facilities, and the necessary equipment for integration of low-orbit satellite launch.
—Encyclopedia Astronautica, "Overberg," [undated], <http://www.astronautix.com/sites/overberg.htm>.
South Africa begins construction of facilities for ballistic missile production, including two facilities for producing solid propellant.
—US Central Intelligence Agency, "Africa Report," (Washington, DC: Directorate of Intelligence, 8 December 1989), top-secret report partially declassified and released 7 May 1996, <http://www.foia.ucia.gov/>, p. 7.
The US panel of scientists assembled by President Carter releases a public report on the double flash detected by the Vela satellite in 1979. The panel concludes that the "signal was probably not from a nuclear explosion," but it does not "rule out the possibility." The CIA, DIA, the Naval Research Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory contest the panel’s conclusions, saying they believe that the data indicates a nuclear explosion.
—David Albright and Corey Gay, "A Flash from the Past," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November/December 1997, <http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/1997/nd97albright.html>; Richard Burt, "Panel Doubts Flash Sighted of Africa Was Atomic," New York Times, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.
South Africa initiates work on the RSA-3 satellite launch vehicle (SLV). The RSA-3 begins development as an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) because of the perceived Soviet threat and isolation of South Africa. It is developed with the assistance of Israel and believed to be essentially identical to the Israeli Jericho II missile, but with addition of a third-stage apogee kick motor. Houwteq develops the RSA-3 at Grabouw, 30km east of Cape Town. The OTR is used for test flights. The engine test facility is at Rooi Els. At the peak of development in 1992, 50 to 70 companies in the public and private sector are involved, employing 1300 to 1500 people.
The first and second stages of the RSA-3 use the same rocket motor loaded with nine metric tons of propellant. The first stage uses vanes in the exhaust for steering during the first 16 to 20 seconds of flight (a technical source interviewed by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies states that this flight time is too long and should only be from 2 to 5 seconds), after which the fins at the base of the vehicle provide aerodynamic control. The second stage has a higher expansion nozzle and may be equipped with thrust vector control (TVC) for steering. The second stage has a spin-up bus for the unguided third stage and payload. Total mass of the bus and payload shroud is 583kg. After second stage burnout, the upper stage package enters a 148-second ballistic coast. A sideways trajectory deflection is made and the shroud is jettisoned. The third stage and payload are then spun up, followed by separation of the bus. The spin-stabilized third stage then makes the 4,555 m/s burn to place the payload into orbit. The third stage is similar to a five-metric-ton thrust spherical motor used by the Israelis for their Shavit launch vehicle. [Note: The Shavit SLV is often characterized as a three-stage version of the IRBM with the first two stages of the Shavit being identical to the first stage of Jericho II. However, since the US government removed Israel from a list of "dangerous rocket projects" in 1992, it is "understood" that the two are completely separate designs. Some US officials have stated, however, "the Jericho II is a Shavit minus the upper stage, which is replaced by a warhead."]
The composite payload fairing for the RSA-3 is 4.5m long, 1.3m in diameter, and has a mass of 57kg. Configured as an ICBM, it is estimated that the three-stage version of the RSA-3 could deliver a 340kg warhead on Washington, D.C. or a 400kg warhead on Moscow. However, such lightweight warheads are beyond known South African technology. Therefore, the RSA-3 is most likely a purely space-launch adaptation of the RSA-2 IRBM.
[Note: The RSA-3 and its mobile erector-launcher were in an advanced stage of testing at the time the program was cancelled in 1994. It is not known what happened to the hardware. Warheads of the size and type required for use on the RSA-3 were not in the national inventory, according to South Africa when it signed the NPT in 1991. The RSA-4, was in the design stage.]
| Event |
Time from launch (sec) |
Height (km) |
Slant Range (km) |
Vehicle Mass (kg) |
Velocity (m/s) |
| Ignition |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
23,564 |
0 |
| Separation Stages 1/2 |
54.9 |
12.8 |
8.4 |
13,349 |
575 |
| Separation Stages 2/3 |
140.0 |
104.3 |
179.8 |
2,961 |
3,225 |
| Bus maneuver and shroud ejection |
172.0 |
140.0 |
272.0 |
0 |
3,116 |
| Ignition of Apogee Kick Motor |
248.0 |
196.5 |
489.0 |
2,378 |
2,945 |
| Burnout of AKM |
342.0 |
210.0 |
914.0 |
0 |
7,498 |
| Separation of Payload |
460.0 |
212.0 |
1,806.0 |
330 |
7,500 |
—Encyclopedia Astronautica, "RSA-3," [undated] <http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/rsa3.htm>; "Israel: How Far Can Its Missiles Fly?" Risk Report (1) p. 5, June 1995, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, <http://www.wisconsinproject.org/>; Gary Milhollin and Gerard White, "Why Are U.S. Firms Still Able to Aid the Mideast Missile Race?" Washington Post, 16 August 1992, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe/>.
South Africa begins development of a single-stage, intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) consisting of the first stage of the RSA-3. The missile [RSA-1] is designed to strike Cuban military concentrations in Angola from mobile launchers in South African territory. The rocket motor closely follows the design of the first stage of Israeli Jericho II and can deliver a payload of 1,500kg over a range of 1,100km. The RSA-2, which consists of the first and second stages of the RSA-3, is also developed. It extends the range of the RSA-1 to 1,900km.
—Encyclopedia Astronautica, "RSA-1," [undated], <http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/rsa1.htm>.
Founder Gerald Bull and former president Rodgers Gregory of Space Research Corporation plead guilty to charges that they illegally exported arms to South Africa in violation of international embargoes. A US grand jury spends 16 months investigating the munitions company. The two plead guilty to a count charging that they illegally shipped more than 300,000 howitzer shells, two 155mm cannons, and a radar tracking system to South Africa between 1976 and 1978. Prosecutors retain the right to convene another grand jury later, if they find new evidence. The remaining counts filed by the government charge the company with falsifying shipping documents to enable the illicit arms sales to escape detection. Prosecutors contend that Space Research shipped the arms from its compound straddling the Vermont-Quebec border to an island in the West Indies, and subsequently to South Africa.
—"Jury Investigating Arms Sales Disbands," AP, 27 March 1980, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe/>.
Gerald Bull and Rodgers Gregory of Space Research Corporation are sentenced to six months in prison for selling artillery equipment to South Africa in violation of the UN arms embargo. [Note: Although Space Research Corporation is a Canadian firm, it straddles the US-Canadian border in Vermont.]
—Kenneth Mokoena, ed., South Africa and the United States: The Declassified History (New York: The New Press, 1993), p. 27.
Israel, South Africa, and Taiwan are reported to have reached an agreement to start collaboration in the joint production of strategic cruise missiles and small unmanned jets capable of delivering nuclear warheads. US Intelligence sources are aware of the nuclear collaboration and report that South Africa and Taiwan are seeking to keep their cruise missile plans secret. Information on the joint collaboration remains restricted to the national security community.
—"3 Nations to Begin Cruise Missile Project," Washington Post, 5 December 1980, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.
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Updated May 2003 |
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