Saudi Arabia: seeking security (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

Leaving aside the details (as per map), the timing and method one must wonder at the impact within several Western nations, Israel, even Iran and in the USA. Perhaps officialdom knew and just forgot to tell the public?

From my memory there has been reporting about the Chinese-made SSM before and the KSA refusal to allow the USA to pay a "courtesy" visit. As for them having nuclear warheads that IMHO is a moot point. I have a vague recollection that the USA reassured Israel on the SSM's deployment they had only high explosive warheads.

In fact I am sure the SSMs have appeared on SWC before and their bases were then shown as nearer to Israel than the map provided today.

See Post 43 for a detailed report from December 2014:http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles...les-its-saber/

Within is this paragraph:

While Chinese DF-3 missiles were armed with large multi-megaton warheads - and thus did not need to be especially accurate - Saudi Arabia's conventionally-armed variants required far better accuracy to provide effective deterrence. China, apparently with Israeli technical assistance, reportedly produced a more accurate version of the DF-3. In April 1988, China delivered the second consignment of DF-3 missiles with "drastically improved" accuracy to replace those delivered a few months before. In the end, Saudi Arabia imported approximately 40 DF-3 missiles capable of carrying a 2,000 kilogram explosive payload to a range of 3,000 km.

(Chinese helpers on-site?) On balance, however, the evidence suggests that the Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force is, in fact, Saudi.