IRAQ’S BALLISTIC MISSILES
Iraq started purchasing Soviet Scud missiles in the 1970s. They have a range of 300km but Iraq succeeded in doubling this to 600km when it developed the al-Hussein missile. These, as the Gulf War demonstrated, can reach Tel Aviv.
UN Security Council resolution 687 required Iraq to destroy all missiles with a range greater than 150km, but left it free to develop missiles whose range falls within its circumference. Washington and London believe this is a loophole which has allowed Saddam to develop his own missile production skills.
Since the UN weapons left in December 1998, the following remain unaccounted for and are understood to be still in Iraq:-
• Nine ballistic missiles
• Two of the 45 chemical and biological warheads Iraq claimed to have destroyed in 1991.
• Two of the 819 Soviet-supplied Scud missiles.
• 150 tonnes of missile production materials
• Iraq’s stockpile of 300 tonnes of liquid missile fuel
• 50 conventional Scud warheads
• 30 Iraqi-made warheads
• 7 Iraqi-made missiles
Dec 1995 Jordan reports seizing 115 Russian-made missile guidance components which it said were bound for Iraq.
Jan 1996 UNSCOM finds prohibited missile guidance gyroscopes, suitable for a 2,000-mile range missile. The discovery was made in the Tigris river.
May 2000 Richard Butler, former UNSCOM chairman, says that Iraq’s two permitted/range missiles, the Ababil-100 and the al-Samoud, have a range of 375 miles.
Dec 2000 Iraq displays its arsenal at the al-Aqsa military parade, displaying three short-range missiles: the al-Samoud (a liquid-fuelled, scaled-down Scud), the al-Fath and the al-Raad. Jet fighters and helicopter gunships were also on show.
Jun 2001 An article in the US Commentary magazine details how Iraq has been trying to buy conventional weapons components, in defiance of UN regulations, from Ukraine, Belarus and Romania.
Jan 2002 The National Intelligence Estimate, an annual US publication, said that Iraq could make a missile which could reach the US by 2015.
May 2002 The US presents to the United Nations evidence that Iraq is producing missiles capable of reaching further than the 150km UN limit. |
