Does Israel have Atomic Weapons?

[Gealai]

me too; Given Israels human ressources and great experience in military r&d and science&engineering it would have been very very easy. The delivery stop of the four next U-boats imposed by the german goverment wasn't casual either. IIRC it was done shortly after Isreal's military became aware of the SCUD threat and a possible nuclear or chemical strike by Saddam

[Incongruous]

Of coarse they do us bloody Brits did it.

[Watchman]

I was under the impression they originally had a secret joint-developement program going on with South Africa (which later aborted its, and published the fact - I also recall something about a ship carrying suspicious cargo to Israel sinking or being seized on the Med). The facilities were largely built with French assistance (although I've read the French engineers commented they weren't allowed so much a peek into certain parts) or in any case French expertise.

Most sources seem to assume about 200 presumably relatively small (ie. wipes out only one city...) warheads.

[Gealai]

Here is the Isreali dementi following the LA Times article:

Experts dismiss report of submarine-based nuclear missiles By The Associated Press
Ha’aretz, 13.10.2003

Israeli and foreign defense experts on Sunday dismissed a report that Israel had modified submarine-based missiles to carry nuclear warheads, saying such an alteration was technically impossible.

The Los Angeles Times reported in its Saturday editions that Israel had modified some of its nuclear warheads to fit U.S.-made Harpoon cruise missiles and upgraded the missiles so they could hit targets on land in addition to maritime ones. The article quoted two U.S. officials and one Israeli official, all speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel made the modifications in response to Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions, the Times reported. Both the United States and Israel view Iran as an enemy and say it is close to developing nuclear weapons that might be used against Israeli targets.

Former Deputy Defense Minister Efraim Sneh called the assertion that Israel had made the Harpoon nuclear impossible. "Anyone with even the slightest understanding of missiles knows that the Harpoon can never be used to carry nuclear warheads," Sneh told Army Radio. "Not even (Israel's) extraordinarily talented engineers and its sophisticated defense industries can transform the Harpoon into a missile capable of doing this. It's simply impossible."

Ted Hooton, editor of Jane's Naval Weapon Systems in London, echoed Sneh's assessment, saying problems with payload weight would put the Harpoon out of balance, limiting its range and accuracy. "It seems to me that a nuclear weapon, which is extremely dense, would make the Harpoon nose heavy and significantly reduce its range – in any event well below the 90 miles it is designed for", Hooton said.


Note that according to new informations of the Harpoon isn't designed to be the carrier but a specially designed CM called "Popeye Turbo II" by the Americans. Isreal is a world leader in missile weapons and UAV's - IMHO such a CM wouldn't be much of a problem for them.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel...e/popeye-t.htm

[Aenlic]

Take note of the fact that they didn't deny altering submarine-launched missiles to carry nuclear warheads. They specifically limited the denial to altering Harpoons to carry nuclear warheads. Some reporter got lazy or had bad information mixed with good information and it opened the door for the typical governmental non-denial denial. The Israeli's were able to deny part of the story while making it look like they were denying the gist of the story.

[Gealai]

Exactly