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Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East

Cruise Missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Deployed in the Middle East1

Current WMD Middle East Information

Please note this section is no longer being updated. For the latest Middle East WMD information, please visit these links:

Country Profiles
Information on nuclear, biological & chemical weapons and missile programs, with details on capabilities, facilities, chronologies, and imports/exports.

CNS maintains these Country Profile databases for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

Updated: April 2006

MISSILE
RANGE (km)
PAYLOAD (kg)
SUPPLIER
USER
AS-1 (Kennel)
100
1,000
Russia
Egypt
AS-5 (Kelt)
400
1,000
Russia
Egypt
AS-9 (Kyle)
90
200
Russia
Iran
AS-11 (Kilter)
120 [2]
130
Russia
Iran
C-601/Nisa 28
95
513
China
Iraq
Delilah/ STAR-1 UAV
400
50
Indigenous
Israel
Exocet (AM-39)
50
165
France
Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Exocet (MM-40)
70
165
France
UAE
FAW 150
150
500
Indigenous
Iraq
FL-1
95
513
China
Egypt
Gabriel-4
200
500
Indigenous
Israel
Harpoon
120
220
USA
Israel, Egypt, Iran
Harpoon/AGM 84A [3]
120
220
USA
Israel
Harpoon/ RGM 84A
120
220
USA
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey
Harpoon/UGM 84A
120
220
USA
Israel
Harpy (lethal UAV)
500
Unknown
Indigenous
Israel
HY-2 Silkworm
95
513
China
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Sudan
HY-4/C-201
150
500
China
Iran
Malachite UAV
120
130
Russia
Syria
Maverick AGM-65A/D/G
27
135
USA
Saudi Arabia
Otomat (Mk1)
80
210
Italy
Egypt,
Otomat (Mk2)
80
210
Italy
Libya, Saudi Arabia
Sea Eagle
110
230
UK
Saudi Arabia
Seeker UAV
200
40
South Africa
Algeria
SS-N-2a (Styx)
43
513
Russia
Egypt, Syria
SS-N-2b (Styx)
50
513
Russia
Algeria, Yemen
SS-N-2c (Styx)
80
513
Russia
Iraq, Libya, Syria
SS-N-3b (Sepal)
450
1,000
Russia
Syria
SS-N-22 (Sunburn)
110
500
Russia
Iran
Tomahawk
1,600
1,454
USA
USA
Tupolev Tu-243 UAV
360
Unknown
Russia
Syria
YJ-1/C-801
40
165
China
Iraq
YJ-2/C-802
120 [4]
165
China
Iran

Sources:

  1. This list summarizes information available from public sources. Data were drawn primarily from: David A. Fulghum, "Cruise Missile Threat Spurs Pentagon Research," Aviation Week and Space Technology Review, 7/14/97, pp. 44-45. Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane's Strategic Weapons Systems Issue 24, 5/97. "Master Tables," Centre for Defence and International Security Studies website, http://www.cdiss.org. Additional sources consulted: Aviation Week & Space Technology and The Association for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems International; 1997-98 International Guide to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997); Jane's Defence Weekly; Cape Times; Saturday Argus; South African Press Agency (SAPA); IDR Dispatches; Foreign Defense Assistance and Defense Export Organization (SIBAT), Israel's Defense Sales Directory, 1997/98 (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1997); Anthony H. Cordesman, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East: National Efforts, War Fighting Capabilities, Weapons Lethality, Terrorism, and Arms Control Implications (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2/98); Ian O. Lesser and Ashely J. Tellis, Strategic Exposure: Proliferation around the Mediterranean (Santa Monica: RAND, 1996); Bates Gill, Silkworms and Summitry: Chinese Arms Exports to Iran and US-China Relations (Asia and Pacific Rim Institute of the American Jewish Committee, 1998); "Saudi Arabia," Middle East Military Balance, (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 2/5/05), http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/balance/Saudia.pdf; "Exocet AM.39 / MM.40," Federation of American Scientists website, 1/3/99, http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/exocet.htm; "CSS-C-2-Silkworm/ HY-1 / SY-1 / CSS-N-1 Scrubbrush / FL-1 Flying Dragon," Global Security.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/hy-1.htm; "Egypt," Middle East Military Balance, (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 2/5/05); "Iran," Middle East Military Balance, (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 1/06); IDR Dispatches, "Russian UAV Available for Export," 9/95, p. 3; Charles Bickers, "Russia Renews its UAV Developments," Jane's Defence Weekly, 7/23/94, p. 24; "Syria," Middle East Military Balance, (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 3/4/05); "Saudi Arabia," Middle East Military Balance (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 2/5/05); "AGM-65 Maverick," Federation of American Scientists webiste, 1/3/99, http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/agm-65.htm.
  2. Missile Systems of the World, AMI Corporate Intelligence Solutions (AMI International, 1999), pp. 214, 218, 228.
  3. "Israel," Middle East Military Balance (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 3/05). Versions of the U.S.-made Harpoon cruise missile are designed for launch from ships (AGM 84A), submarines (RGM 84A), and aircraft (UGM 84A).
  4. Missile Systems of the World, AMI Corporate Intelligence Solutions (AMI International, 1999), pp. 214, 218, 228.


Originally prepared by Michael Barletta and Erik Jorgensen, May 1998;
Updated by Sammy Salama and Alexis Zeiger, April 2006.

© Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies. April 2006


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