Syria
Hama Missile Base and Production Factory
This page is part of the Facilities Collection.
Constructed with Iranian, North Korean and Chinese assistance, the Hama complex houses an underground missile production facility and a Scud-C launch base. 1 Missile production reportedly began in 1993. 2 Damascus constructed two separate production plants at the complex, for liquid-fueled and solid-fueled systems. 3
In 2007, the Jerusalem Post reported that Syria had constructed “more than 30 hardened concrete bunkers that house multiple launchers and missiles” around the Hama complex. 4 According to Jane’s, Damascus has deployed two Scud-C brigades, each equipped with eighteen missile launchers, 25km from the site. 5 Eric Croddy asserts that the “Scud-Cs deployed at Hama are supplied with a high ratio of launchers to missiles, enabling Syria to launch many salvos at once.” 6
Glossary
- Scud
- Scud is the designation for a series of short-range ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and transferred to many other countries. Most theater ballistic missiles developed and deployed in countries of proliferation concern, for example Iran and North Korea, are based on the Scud design.
Sources
- Yaakov Katz, “Don’t Underestimate Syria’s Military,” The Jerusalem Post, 13 April 2007; Paul Beaver, “Syria to make chemical boblets for ‘Scud Cs,’” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 3 September 1997, www.janes.com.
- Greg J. Gerardi and James A. Plotts, “An Annotated Chronology of DPRK Missile Trade and Developments,” The Nonproliferation Review, Fall 1994, p. 82.
- Anthony H. Cordesman, Aram Nerguizian and Ionut C. Popescus, Israel and Syria: The Military Balance and Prospects of War (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2008) p. 203.
- Khalid Hilal, Leah Kuchinsky and Amin Tarzi, “Israel Sees Growing Missile Threat from Syria,” WMD Insights, July/August 2007.
- “Syria’s Secret Weapons,” Jane’s Intelligence Digest, 30 April 2003, www.janes.com.
- Eric Croddy, Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Comprehensive Survey for the Concerned Citizen (New York, NY: Copernicus Books, 2002).