Rocket-engine test stand at secret Saudi missile base resembles Chinese design, experts say
- Satellite images suggest that Saudi Arabia has constructed its first known ballistic missile factory, according to weapons experts and image analysts
A military base deep inside Saudi Arabia appears to be testing and possibly manufacturing ballistic missiles, experts and satellite images suggest, evidence of the type of weapons programme it has long criticised its arch-rival Iran for possessing.
Further raising the stakes for any such programme are comments by Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said last year the kingdom wouldn’t hesitate to develop nuclear weapons if Iran does.
Ballistic missiles can carry nuclear warheads to targets thousands of kilometres away.
Officials in Riyadh and the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Having such a programme could further strain relations with the US, the kingdom’s long-time security partner, at a time when ties already are being tested by the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, said heavy investment in missiles often correlates with an interest in nuclear weapons.
“I would be a little worried that we’re underestimating the Saudis’ ambitions here,” said Lewis, who has studied the satellite images.