Saudi DF-3 Nuclear Missile Update

Jonathan Scherck

My sources are telling me that China continues to assist Saudi Arabia in its pursuit of nuclear tipped missiles or regional ballistic missiles. Although the article below is from last year I believe it sheds light on Saudi Arabia’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons. There is another article after this one about Saudi Arabia's DF-3 Chinese Missiles.

July 16, 2012 "Courthouse News Service" -- ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) - Former CIA contractor Jonathan Scherck published a book "containing intelligence-related information" without the CIA's permission and in violation of his secrecy agreements, the United States claims in Federal Court.

Scherck's self-published book, "Patriot Lost," claims China gave nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia during George W. Bush's presidency, according to an excerpt from the book available on the Amazon.com Internet page this morning. The book contains other harsh criticisms of the G.W. Bush presidency.

Federal prosecutors say in their complaint that Scherck signed secrecy agreements with the CIA in 2004 and 2007, and agreed to let the agency review any materials he planned to publish, including works of fiction, which mention intelligence activities.

Scherck submitted the manuscript for "Patriot Lost" to the CIA for review in 2010, and the CIA did not approve its publication, but Scherck published it online a few months later, according to the complaint.

"In his contractor position with the CIA, defendant Scherck was granted regular access to classified information, including information regarding intelligence sources and methods," the complaint states. "In granting defendant Scherck access to such information, the CIA relied on the expectation that defendant Scherck would respect the rights and obligations created by the secrecy agreements and his fiduciary duties, including the prepublication review requirement."

In the excerpt from his book, Scherck writes: "As I will lay out in much greater detail, I believe the People's Republic of China delivered a turn-key nuclear ballistic missile system to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the course of several years beginning no later than December 2003. This illicit transfer, a flagrant violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, occurred while Dick Cheney was managing both the intelligence and foreign policy portfolios of the George W. Bush administration."

Scherck says in the book that he worked as a collection management officer in the CIA from mid-January 2005 to April 3, 2007.

"I was one of only a few individuals in Washington with access to what was being said overseas at the time about Saudi Arabia's procurement of a new ballistic missile system from China," according to the book. "I read things, I heard things, I saw things. Admittedly, I did not see all - but I saw enough."

Uncle Sam claims Scherck violated his fiduciary duty to the agency. It wants all the money he's made from the book, and and an injunction preventing further distribution.

Watchman comment: I could be wrong on this but as I look at the image I do not see evidence of a compass mark pointing in the direction of Israel or Iran. What I see is the shadow cast by the Sun from the permanent launcher. 

I believe these missiles are principally aimed at Iran because Israel and Saudi Arabia covertly co-operate with each other against Iran. In fact, the Israelis have fly over and landing rights in Saudi Arabia. 

The key factor in this situation is the on-going Shia-Sunni war, that war is currently being fought in Syria.

As you know, I have said many times the Saudis do not have to spend billions of dollars to develop nukes, with their money they can simply purchase them from Pakistan or China. Hence, do not be surprised to wake up one day and discover that Saudi Arabia has nuclear weapons. In fact, the Saudis might already have a nuke.

Finally, Biblically Saudi Arabia and Israel eventually will go to war against each other but I do not see that on the horizon right now. However, keep in mind events in the Middle East can happen over night. 

Images analysed by experts at ‘IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review’ have revealed a hitherto undisclosed surface-to-surface missile base deep in the Saudi desert, with capabilities for hitting both countries.

Analysts who examined the photos spotted two launchpads with markings pointing north-west towards Tel Aviv and north-east towards Tehran. They are designed for Saudi Arabia’s arsenal of lorry-launched DF 3 missiles, which have a range of 1,500-2,500 miles and can carry a two-tonne payload.

The base, believed to have been built within the past five years, gives an insight into Saudi strategic thinking at a time of heightened tensions in the Gulf. While Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, it has long maintained back-channel communications as part of attempts to promote stability in the region.

The two countries also have a mutual enemy in Iran, though, which has long seen Saudi Arabia as a rival power in the Gulf. Experts fear that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would seek to follow suit.

Analysts believe that the kingdom is in the process of upgrading its missiles, although even the DF3, which dates back to the 1980s, is itself potentially big enough to carry a nuclear device.

The missile base, which is at al-Watah, about 125 miles south-west of the capital, Riyadh, was discovered during a project by IHS Jane’s to update its assessment of Saudi Arabia’s military capabilities.

It serves as both a training and launch facility, with the missiles stored in an underground silo built into a rocky hillside. To the north of the facility are two circle-shaped launch pads, both with compass-style markings showing the precise direction that the launchers should fire in.

The Chinese-made missiles are not remotely guided and therefore have to be positioned in the direction of their target before firing.

“One appears to be aligned on a bearing of approximately 301 degrees and suggesting a potential Israeli target, and the other is set to target Iranian locations,” said the IHS Jane’s article, published today.

While the lorry-launched missiles could theoretically be fired from any location, the idea of having pre-planned directional markers was to ensure that they could be deployed in accurate fashion as quickly as possible, said Allison Puccioni, an image expert at IHS Jane’s.