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Sdot Micha Airbase (Nuclear)

Other Name: KANAF 2; Kfar Zeharya; Sedot Mikha
Location: Approximately 25km southwest of Jerusalem
Subordinate To: Israel Defense Forces
Size: Unknown
Facility Status: Operational

Jane's reports that Sdot Micha airbase is Israel's primary storage and deployment site for its Jericho I and II ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads. [1] Constructed during the late 1960s, the facility became operational in the early 1970s. Upon completion, the bunkers housed Jericho I ballistic missiles on mobile launchers. [2] Between 1989 and 1993, Israel built additional bunkers to the southeast for Jericho II ballistic missiles. [3] Satellite reconnaissance has not indicated the presence of launch silos on-site, suggesting that the Jericho II's are exclusively stored underground on mobile launchers. [4] The IDF transports Jericho II's to the base from the IAI's nearby missile production facility at Be'er Yaakov via rail. [5] Jane's speculates that Sdot Micha houses at least 50 and up to 100 Jericho IIs. [6]

Sources:
[1] "Israel Nuclear Production Capability," Jane's CBRN Assessments, 1 December 2009.
[2] Joseph Cirincione, Jon B. Wolfstahl and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Threats (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005), p. 269.
[3] Joseph Cirincione, Jon B. Wolfstahl and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Threats (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005), p. 269.
[4] "Jericho 1/2/3 (YA-1/YA-3)," Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, 3 August 2009.
[5] Harold Hough, "Israel's Nuclear Infrastructure," Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 November 1994.
[6] Harold Hough, "Israel's Nuclear Infrastructure," Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 November 1994; Joseph Cirincione, Jon B. Wolfstahl, and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Threats (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005), p. 269.

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This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS.

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