ISLAMABAD – Saudi Arabia, already known as the world’s top importer offoreign-made ballistic missiles, has started building its first missileproduction factory near the central town of Al-Watah, The Washington Posthas quoted experts as saying.
In a Wednesday report, *The Postlink*quotedleading experts as saying that satellite imagery dating back to Novemberappears to show Saudi Arabia’s debut ballistic missile factory located atan existing missile base near Al-Watah.
This would reportedly be the first known instance of Saudis manufacturingthe weapons indigenously, after importing foreign-made ballistic missilesfor years.
The photos were discovered by Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert atthe Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and founderof the Arms Control Wonk blog, and his team.link[image: View image on Twitter]link:View image on Twitter]link
linkJeffrey Lewis✔@ArmsControlWonklinklink
From bone-saws to ballistic missiles. Satellite images taken by @planetlabslink seem to show that Saudi Arabia hasconstructed a solid-fuel missile plant. Story by @PaulSonnelink. Analysis by yours truly, @missile_manyaklink and @DaveSchmerlerlink.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/can-saudi-arabia-produce-ballistic-missiles-satellite-imagery-raises-suspicions/2019/01/23/49e46d8c-1852-11e9-a804-c35766b9f234_story.html… link4:10 AM – Jan 24, 2019link
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The photos raise “the possibility that Saudi Arabia is going to buildlonger-range missiles and seek nuclear weapons,” according to *The Post*.Lewis said that “we may be underestimating their desire and theircapabilities.”
The findings were further confirmed by Michael Elleman of the London-basedInternational Institute for Strategic Studies and Joseph Bermudez of theWashington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Media reports of a Saudi ballistic missile base in Al-Watah first surfacedin the form of an article published in July 2013 by IHS Jane’s *DefenseWeekly*. The site revealed satellite imagery that appeared to showsurface-to-surface missile sites being constructed to accommodate thedeployment of Chinese Dongfeng DF-3A intermediate-range ballistic missiles,purchased in the 1980s during the war Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein imposedon Iran.
Saudi Arabia publicly unveiled its DF-3A arsenal for the first time duringa military parade in April 2014. That same year, *Newsweek* reportedlinkthatthe CIA helped facilitate a secret deal to allow Saudi Arabia to buyimproved Chinese DF-21 missiles in 2007.
Last year, the Saudi foreign minister threatened that the kingdom will makenuclear bombs if the Islamic Republic of Iran moves to develop an atomicweapons program.
“We have made it very clear that if Iran acquires a nuclear capability wewill do everything we can to do the same,” Saudi Arabia’s former ForeignMinister Adel al-Jubeir said in May 2018.
