Contents

SIPRI Yearbook 2011

SIPRI Yearbook 2011

IX. Israeli nuclear forces

Chapter:
7. World nuclear forces
Source:
SIPRI Yearbook 2011
Author(s):
Shannon N. Kile, Vitaly Fedchenko, Bharath Gopalaswamy, Hans M. Kristensen

Israel continues to maintain its long-standing policy of nuclear opacity: it neither officially confirms nor denies that it possesses nuclear weapons.122

Table 7.9. Israeli nuclear forces, January 2011

Type

Range (km)a

Payload (kg)

Status

Aircraftb

F-16A/B/C/D/I Falcon

1 600

5 400

205 aircraft in the inventory; some are believed to be certified for nuclear weapon delivery

Ballistic missilesc

Jericho II

1 500–1 800

750–1 000

c. 50 missiles; first deployed in 1990; test-launched on 27 June 2001

Jericho III

>4 000

1 000–1 300

Test-launched on 17 Jan. 2008; status unknown

(a) Aircraft range is for illustrative purposes only; actual mission range will vary. Missile payloads may have to be reduced in order to achieve maximum range.

(b) Some of Israel’s 25 F-15I aircraft may also have a long-range nuclear delivery role.

(c) The Shavit space launch vehicle, if converted to a ballistic missile, could deliver a 775-kg payload to a distance of 4000 km.

Sources: Cohen, A., The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel’s Bargain with the Bomb (Columbia University Press: New York, 2010); Cohen, A. and Burr, W., ‘Israel crosses the threshold’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, vol. 62, no. 3 (May/June 2006); Cohen, A., Israel and the Bomb (Columbia University Press: New York, 1998); Albright, D., Berkhout, F. and Walker, W., SIPRI, Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996: World Inventories, Capabilities and Policies (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1997); Jane’s Strategic Weapon Systems, various issues; Fetter, S., ‘Israeli ballistic missile capabilities’, Physics and Society, vol. 19, no. 3 (July 1990)—for an updated analysis, see unpublished ‘A ballistic missile primer’, <http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/Fetter/Publications>; ‘Nuclear notebook’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, various issues; and authors’ estimates.

In May 2010 a British newspaper published what it claimed were secret South African documents from the 1970s that purportedly revealed an Israeli offer to sell nuclear weapons to the South African Government.123 Israeli officials denied that such an offer had ever been made.

Citation (MLA):
Kile, Shannon N., Vitaly Fedchenko, Bharath Gopalaswamy, and Hans M. Kristensen. "7. World nuclear forces." SIPRI Yearbook. SIPRI. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2025. <https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780199695522/sipri-9780199695522-div1-82.xml>.
Citation (APA):
Kile, S., Fedchenko, V., Gopalaswamy, B., & Kristensen, H. (2016). 7. World nuclear forces. In SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 Feb. 2025, from https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780199695522/sipri-9780199695522-div1-82.xml
Citation (Chicago):
Kile, Shannon N., Vitaly Fedchenko, Bharath Gopalaswamy, and Hans M. Kristensen. "7. World nuclear forces." In SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, SIPRI. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016). Retrieved 16 Feb. 2025, from https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780199695522/sipri-9780199695522-div1-82.xml
The SIPRI Yearbook online requires a subscription or purchase to access its full text (purchase of a print copy of the 2010-2016 yearbooks also provides access to some content). Unsubscribed users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please log in to access full text content, or find out more about how to subscribe.
If you think you should have access to this service, please contact your librarian.