Do Saudis have long-range missiles?

A report in the Israeli Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot provides extensive details of Saudi Arabia’s acquisition from China over the last decade of 120 long-range missiles capable of hitting targets up to 3,500 kilometers away with large conventional, nuclear, chemical or biological payloads.

Map shows missile range

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The CSS-2, or Dong-Peng 3, missiles are based, the report says, in the El-Solayil desert oasis about 500 kilometers from Riyadh, with a smaller quantity at Al-Jofar, about 100 kilometers from the city.

The newspaper commissioned civilian satellite photography of the secret military installation at El-Solayil earlier this year. It purports to show intensive construction in the region stretching over hundreds of square miles. The report says the Saudis have 12 missile launchers and have built approach roads, command centers, a huge residential area, a mosque for engineers and a large area of bunkers with a storage capacity of over 60,000 cubic meters.

Just east of the missile base positioned in narrow, hidden ravines is a Saudi air force base with two squadrons of Tornado jet fighters.

The report says there are 33 buildings in the support area – eight of them large enough to store CSS-2 missiles each 24 meters in length. It says the weapons storage compound spread over a 1,400-square-kilometer area is too large for a CSS-2 missile base alone and likely serves other secret purposes. It includes more than 60 fortified buildings for weapons storage.

CSS-2 missile

The deal with China for purchase of the missiles was negotiated by Prince Bandar bin-Sultan, the Saudis' ambassador to Washington, according to Yediot Ahronot.

According to the report, both U.S. and Israeli intelligence have been aware of the Saudi missiles for years. The Saudis reportedly told the Americans the missiles were needed to defend themselves from Iran and that their purchase was arranged after the U.S. refused to sell Riyadh F15 fighters in 1985. King Fahd reportedly promised the U.S that the Saudis would not place chemical or nuclear warheads on the missiles and would never use them in a first strike. He also reportedly promised Saudi Arabia would not take part in the development of nuclear warheads, but it has bankrolled Pakistan’s “Islamic bomb” project.

The report claims the Saudis have refused to allow U.S. inspectors in to see the Al-Solayil site.

The CSS-2 missile is the main weapon of the Chinese non-conventional arsenal. At the time the purchase was negotiated, it was the most advanced missile in China’s arsenal. It is a knockoff of the Russian R-12/SS-4, propelled by liquid fuel and can be launched from a storage facility or a mobile launch pad. With an error range of 2.5 kilometers, it is not designed for pinpoint targeting, but rather for large targets such as population centers.

The same missile is used by the Chinese for launching satellites into space.

In 1983, according to the report, the Chinese initiated a program to lengthen the range of the CSS-2 from 2,650 kilometers to 3,500. The payload can include as many as three nuclear warheads.

About 1,000 Chinese engineers participated in building the site, says the report. Chinese engineers are still responsible for maintaining the missiles. The purchase was part of a 30-year contract between the two nations.

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