Everything about Jericho Missile totally explained
Jericho is a general designation given to the
Israeli
ballistic missiles. The name is taken from the first development contract signed between Israel and
Dassault in
1963, with the codename as a reference to the
Biblical city of
Jericho. Like much connected to the
nuclear weapons program of Israel, exact details are difficult to find.
Jericho I
Jericho I was first publicly identified as an operational
short-range ballistic missile system in late
1971. It was 13.4 m long, 0.8 m in diameter, weighing 6.5
tons. It had a range of 500 km and a
CEP of 1,000 m, and it could carry a payload estimated at 400 kg. It was intended to carry a nuclear warhead. However, due to Israel's ambiguity over its nuclear weapons program, the missile is classified as a conventional ballistic missile. Initial development was in conjunction with
France, Dassault provided various missile systems from 1963 and a type designated
MD-620 was test fired in
1965. But French co-operation was halted by an arms embargo from January
1968. Work was continued by
IAI at the Beit Zachariah facility and the program cost almost $1 billion up to
1980. Despite guidance problems it's believed that around 100 missiles of this type were produced.
Jericho II
The system was updated from around
1985, and was identified as the
Jericho II, a solid fuel, 13 ton, two-stage
medium-range ballistic missile system. There were a series of test launches into the
Mediterranean from
1987 to
1992, the longest at around 1,300 km, mostly from the
facility at Palmachim, south of
Tel Aviv. Again, the qualities of the system are unclear but it's considered by some sources as equivalent to the US
MGM-31 Pershing, the
American government having provided considerable technical assistance to the Israelis in the
1970s.
It has been proposed that the Jericho II forms the basis of the three-stage, 23 ton
Shavit NEXT satellite launcher (similar to the South African RSA-3), first launched in
1988 from Palmachim. From the performance of Shavit it has been estimated that as a ballistic missile it has a maximum range of about 7,600 km with a 500 kg payload
(External Link
).
Jericho III
Jericho III is thought to have been in service since mid-
2005. With a payload of 1,000 - 1,300 kg it has a range of 6,500-7000km
(External Link)(External Link), and probably significantly greater with a payload of 350kg (one Israeli nuclear warhead). This gives Israel nuclear strike capability against
Africa,
Europe, and most of
Asia.
On
17 January,
2008 Israel test fired a multi-stage ballistic missile believed to be of the Jericho III type reportedly capable of carrying "Special warheads".
The Jerichos are operated by 150, 199, and 248 Squadrons of the IAF from
Sedot Mikha Airbase.
Further Information
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