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Israel Owns Sixth-Largest Nuke Arsenal, Defense Analysts Say
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Defense analysts have said that Israel's arsenal of 100 to 300 nuclear warheads is the sixth largest among nuclear-armed states, the Jerusalem Post reported Sunday (see GSN, April 7).
Jane's Information Group stated that the Israeli nuclear deterrent is nearly equal in size to the British nuclear arsenal and can be launched from air, land and sea. Delivery vehicles include ground-based Jericho ballistic missiles and cruise missiles deployed on Dolphin-class submarines.
The Jericho 2 can travel up to 2,800 miles while the Jericho 3 has a top distance of roughly 5,000 miles, according to Jane's.
Israel also has manufactured tactical nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse quoted Jane's as stating. It is probable that the nation's nuclear weapons are not fully assembled but could be made operational in a period of days, the defense analysis said.
Jerusalem has never formally acknowledged possession of a nuclear arsenal (Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, April 11).