Israel has 80 nukes, can about triple inventory – report

RT ^ | 09/16/2013 | RT

[TexGrill]

Israel has never confirmed or denied possession of nuclear weapons, but according to new report by US experts it has at least 80 operative warheads and has enough material to produce up to 190 more.

In a report published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, nuclear weapon proliferation experts Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen assess that Israel stopped producing nuclear warheads back in 2004 once it reached around 80 munitions.

However, the country can easily double its arsenal since it has enough fissile material to build at least another 115 bombs, experts say.

“There are rumors that Israel is equipping some of its submarines with nuclear-capable cruise missiles,” the report says, echoing the 2013 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute yearbook on armament and international security which also suggested Israel could have nuclear-capable submarine-launched cruise missiles and reported the same assessment of nuke stockpiles.

The suspicions were fueled by the fact that Germany supplied Israel with five Dolphin-class submarines, allegedly capable of launching nuclear missiles, and signed a contract to build a sixth.

It remains unknown how many nuclear warheads of the total inventory could already be deployed, as Israel continues to maintain its long-standing policy of nuclear opacity. In December 2012, Israel once again dismissed the latest demand from the members of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to join the accord.

Israeli stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction have come under unusual scrutiny following the US-Russian roadmap for the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, which is seen as a significant step towards a WMD-free region.

[TexGrill]

Global business tip

[Netz]

Israel, don't fall for it - don't sign anything! The ONLY purpose of International pressure is so that Israel won't have a deterrent force any longer.
Remain quiet...
Remain opaque
Remain steadfast
KEEP ‘EM GUESSING

In that region, they are the only stable, Western Democracy with our values. Now that Obama has proven to be unreliable, the supposed arsenal is more important now than ever.

[cynwoody]

It's from Russia Today, but hopefully, it's true.

If Iran attacks, the largest concentration of living Iranians left should be California.

[Standing Wolf]

Atomic weapons? What atomic weapons? All those fell out of the boat that tipped over and sank.

[Gen.Blather]

“I’d say that number is just a wee bit low.”

Carter, who used to be president, in much the same way Kerry fought in Vietnam, said they had 500. I’d guess that was closer to the truth. But since they started back in the sixties, probably some of these are ready for retirement.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

17 Cities, 140,000,000 population. A good start.

Dhaka
Istanbul
Cairo
Lagos
Jakarta
Tehran
Lahore
Baghdad
Khartoum
Chittagong
Riyadh
Alexandria
Abidjan
Ankara
Kabul
Algiers

[taildragger]

RT? What a tool for Putan... What kind of journalism is this? Come on RT are they traditional or Weutron Narhead thingee’s, man you guys are slippin’....

[Psalm 73]

Combining several different analysis articles - I gather they have between 40 and 200, with 75 being a generally accepted safe figure.
They apparently also have a triad of delivery systems - not just the sub-launched version, but also F-15 and F-16-launched, as well as a number of ICBMs.
The long-range, ICBMs are what suprised me - but if you can put a satellite into orbit, you've essentially got yourself an ICBM.

[Flintlock]

I think they’d better hurry up.

[The Great RJ]

Israel also would not engage in a lot of hand wringing deciding to use them. Given the close proximity of hostile countries sworn to annihilate them their decision to use these weapons would be swift.