WMD 411 Chronology — 1999

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Produced by the Monterey Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies

KEY: [B] Biological, [C] Chemical, [M] Missile, [N] Nuclear, [O] Organization [T] Terrorism

Jan 4 1999 [C] A pistol containing ammunition with cyanide-laced bullets was reportedly found near the cells of commanders of the National Liberation Army (ELN) or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), being held in the jail in Itagui, Colombia.

Feb 1999 [M] An unclassified CIA report to Congress on global proliferation during the first half of 1998 reports that "Chinese and North Korean entities continued to provide assistance to Pakistan's ballistic missile program during the first half of 1998. Such assistance is critical for Islamabad's efforts to produce ballistic missiles....China's involvement with Pakistan will continue to be monitored closely."

Feb 9 1999 [N] The United States conducts a sub-critical test at the Nevada Test Site.

Feb 20 1999 [O, N, M] India and Pakistan sign the Lahore Declarations. The agreements are designed to reduce tensions between the two countries that increased after each country conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. The Declarations include advance warning of ballistic missile tests and a pledge to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorized nuclear weapons launch.

March 29 1999 [M] The U.S. Army successfully conducts the ninth THAAD flight test at White Sands Missile Range. This test is the ninth in a planned series of THAAD Program Definition and Risk Reduction flight tests to verify the THAAD prototype design and performance of its system elements.

March 31 1999 [N] In response to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Chariman of Russia's General Staff Anatoly Kvashin says that Moscow no longer rules out launching a preemptive nuclear strike against a potential enemy.

April 11 1999 [M] India successfully test-fires an intermediate-range ballistic missile, an Agni-2, from a rail platform located at a new test site on Wheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal. The missile flies for 11 minutes and splashes down in the Bay of Bengal.

April 13 1999 [N] The Japanese weekly magazine AERA quotes North Korean defector Kim Duck-hong as saying that North Korea has already developed and stockpiled "nuclear missiles." Kim, a former high-ranking North Korean official, says in the interview, "I heard that North Korea had been importing precise components from Japan and uranium from Pakistan for the development of nuclear weapons."

April 14 1999 [M] Pakistan responds to the April 11 Indian missile launch with the launch of its Ghauri 2 medium-range ballistic missile. The missile is fired from the Tilla Firing Range at Malute in Jhelum District, 40 miles east of Islamabad, and flies 12 minutes to the impact point near the coastal town of Jewani in Baluchistan.

April 15 1999 [M] Pakistan successfully test-fires its Shaheen short-range ballistic missile. The test is conducted at the Sonmiani naval base, about 30 miles from the southern port city of Karachi on the Arabian Sea coast.

May 7 1999 [O] NATO mistakenly fires three missiles at the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. NATO and CIA officials used outdated maps when developing the target list. Accordingly, NATO officials believed that they were firing on the Yugoslav Federal Directorate of Supply and Procurement. Three Chinese journalists died and 20 Chinese nationals were injured.

May 17 1999 [B] The European Union issues a common position on the BWC Protocol that commits the 15 Member States as well as the 14 Associated States to "actively promote decisive progress in the work of the Ad Hoc Group, with a view to concluding the substantive negotiations by the end of 1998, so that the Protocol can be adopted by a Special Conference of States Parties early in 1999."

June 1999 [N] The United States and the Russian Federation agree to engage in discussions on START III negotiations.

June 3 1999 [M] Russia successfully test-fires its ICBM Topol-M, the seventh such test since December 1994. The launch is unprecedented because it simulates maneuvers to avoid antimissile defense systems.

June 10 1999 [M] The U.S. Army's THAAD weapon system successfully intercepts a target missile over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

July 19 1999 [M] An upgraded Patriot Anti-Cruise Missile intercepts an MQM-107 drone simulating a cruise missile flying at low altitude at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The military considers the test a success and calls it a historical first. The new missile is part of the Patriot Advanced Capability-2, an updated version of the Patriot TMD system.

July 23 1999 [M] Pakistan tests the engine for the new Ghauri 3 intermediate range ballistic missile.

July 25 1999 [N] The Tokyo Forum for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament issues its report Facing Nuclear Dangers: An Action Plan for the 21st Century. The report warns that a renewed sense of commitment to both nonproliferation and disarmament is urgently needed. The report states that the nuclear weapon states that are party to the NPT should uphold their Article VI commitments (to move towards nuclear disarmament). The report also recommends that phased reductions should be adopted to eliminate nuclear weapons and that states should bring the CTBT into force and introduce greater transparency measures to ensure that arsenal reductions are irreversible.

July 27 1999 [N] The first of three Dolphin-class submarines, built in Germany for the Israeli Navy, arrive in Israel. According to defense experts, the submarine could be outfitted to give Israel a second-strike nuclear capability (the ability to sustain a nuclear strike and fire back).

Aug 1999 [N] U.S.-Russian START III discussions begin.

Aug 2 1999 [M] China test-fires its Dongfeng-31 ICBM within Chinese territory. The missile is reportedly launched from the Wuzhai Missile and Space Center in northern central China, about 250 miles southwest of Beijing, to a remote interior area, possibly near the Lop Nor nuclear test site in northwestern China. The Dongfeng-31 is a three-stage, solid fuel, road mobile missile system with a range of 8,000 kilometers and the ability to carry a nuclear warhead weighing up to 1,500 pounds. Deployment is expected to begin within three years.

Aug 2 1999 [M] The U.S. Army's THAAD weapon system successfully intercepts a target missile over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Aug 17 1999 [N] An advisory panel to the Indian National Security Council releases a draft nuclear doctrine, which states that India should develop the capability to deliver nuclear weapons by aircraft, submarines, and land-based ballistic missiles.

Sept 3 1999 [M] Russia conducts its eighth successful test-launch of the Topol-M silo-based missile.

Sept 9 1999 [M] In an important assessment of the ballistic missile threat to the United States, the CIA projects that "during the next 15 years, the United States most likely will face ICBM threats from Russia, China, and North Korea, probably from Iran, and possibly from Iraq."

Sept 24 1999 [M] After negotiations with U.S. diplomats, North Korea announces that it will cease its missile-testing program. The United States promises to lift its trade embargo against North Korea.

Sept 27 1999 [N] The United States conducts its seventh sub-critical nuclear weapons test underground at the Nevada Test Site.

Sept 30 1999 [M] India successfully test-fires its multi-target surface-to-air missile (SAM) Akash at Chandipur-on-Sea in Balasore, India. The Akash SAM, which has a range of 25 km, compares to the U.S. Patriot missile.

Oct 1999 [O] Russia and China introduce a UN resolution demanding strict compliance with the ABM Treaty.

Oct 1 1999 [M] Russia successfully test-fires the mobile RS-12M Topol from the Plesetsk testing ground. At the time of the test, the missile has been in service for 15 years, five years longer than its guaranteed service life.

Oct 2 1999 [M] The United States successfully conducts its first missile intercept test for the development of a U.S. National Missile Defense (NMD) program. The kill-vehicle succeeds in destroying the dummy warhead more than 100 miles out in space. Critics contend that a decoy balloon near the warhead may have inadvertently helped the missile find its target. The test is the first in a series of 19 intercept tests that are scheduled to take place before June 2000.

Oct 5 1999 [M] India again test-fires its medium-range surface-to-air missile, Akash, from the interim test range at Chandipur-on-Sea.

Oct 6-8 1999 [N] The Conference on Facilitating Entry into Force of the CTBT is held in Vienna. At the conference, 92 states parties and ratified the treaty to continue to apply international pressure to those nations that have not yet ratified it. The treaty will not enter into force until all 44 nuclear-capable nations ratify it.

Oct 13 1999 [N] The U.S. Senate fails to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Oct 17 1999 [B] Russian soldiers discover, on the bodies of Chechens killed during fighting in Dagestan, plans to use biological weapons (BW).

Oct 18 1999 [N] The U.S. Senate fails to ratify the CTBT by a vote of 51 to 48. The outcome draws widespread international condemnation.

Oct 20 1999 [M] Russia successfully tests an RS-18 ICBM from the Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The missile has been in service for approximately 25 years, and the test is to ensure that the RS-18 could perform in spite of its advanced age.

Nov 1 1999 [M] An Israeli Arrow II missile successfully strikes a target missile over the Mediterranean and is officially declared capable of intercepting and destroying incoming tactical ballistic missiles.

Nov 3 1999 [M] Russia test-fires one of its short-range anti-missile rockets, breaking a six-year moratorium. The test comes amid mounting U.S.-Russian differences over the ABM Treaty.

Nov 9 1999 [M] The Pentagon announces it will sell 14 Patriot air defense systems to South Korea.

Nov 9 1999 [N] United States conducts the eighth sub-critical test at the Nevada Test Site.

Nov 10 1999 [N] Russia's Foreign Ministry threatens to scrap talks on nuclear arms reduction if the United States does not uphold the ABM Treaty.

Nov 13 1999 [M] A source associated with India's Defense Research & Development Organization indicates that development of India's 500 kilometer Surya missile is at an advanced stage.

Nov 17 1999 [N] Russian President Boris Yeltsin signs a bill approving the CTBT and sends it to the Duma for ratification.

Nov 17 1999 [M] Russia test-fires two nuclear-capable ballistic missiles from a submarine in the Barents Sea in the Arctic north.

Nov 17 1999 [N] The CIA declassifies new documents showing that the Soviet Union was wary of escalating the arms race for economic reasons, although it had the capability to strike all U.S. missile silos with two warheads each near the end of the Cold War.

Dec 1999 [N] This is the warhead reduction deadline under START I: the United States ahead of schedule.

Dec 8 1999 [M] Russia conducts a successful test launch of a Topol-M ICBM at the Plesetsk test site.

Dec 14 1999 [M] Russia successfully launches a mobile, single-warhead Topol-M missile at the Plesetsk test site.

Dec 17 1999 [O] UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1284, creating the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in order to renew weapons inspections in Iraq. France, China, the Russian Federation, and Malaysia abstain.

Dec 31 1999 [O] Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigns and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin becomes Acting President.

Late 1999 [C] An FBI affidavit in January 2000 asserts that millennium-night attacks planned by Al-Qaida against Westerners at holy sites in Jordan may have included plans to use unconventional gas bombs.

 

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