Sdot Micha Airbase

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Sdot Micha Airbase
Air Wing 2
Sdot Micha AB is located in Israel
Sdot Micha AB
Sdot Micha AB
Coordinates31°44′19″N 34°55′10″E / 31.73861°N 34.91944°E / 31.73861; 34.91944
TypeMilitary missile base
Site information
OwnerIsraeli Air Force
Site history
BuiltAround 1970

Sdot Micha Airbase (in Hebrew: שדות האלה) is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) missile base and depot, whose existence Israel neither confirms nor denies. It is situated in the center of Israel, halfway from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean Sea and extends nearly 13 km from southeast to northwest. The center of the base is located 1.5 km north of Moshav Sdot Micha.

Name[]

The airbase is known either under the name Sdot Micha or Sdot HaElla[1](Hebrew: שדות האלה‎, lit. 'Fields of the Terebinth', with the implicit meaning 'Fields of the Elah ['terebinth'] Valley'). There is a nearby valley known since biblical times as the Valley of Elah, in Hebrew Emek HaElah, variously transliterated as Ha'ela, Ha-Ela or HaEla, which contains a small stream that runs along the south border of moshav Sdot Micha, but falls dry most time of the year. Officially there is no village Ha'ela.[citation needed]

Sdot Micha, also spelled Sedot Mikha, is not the base' official name since Israel does not recognise its existence, but it is used in most publications worldwide.[citation needed]

The airbase is sometimes called Zekharia, after another nearby moshav, with the variant spellings Zachariah or Zekharyeh.[citation needed]

In July 2017 the IDF temporarily admitted the existence of a base called Sdot Ha'ela, but after the press had picked it up, it disappeared again from their website. The IAF hasn't mentioned it at all.[2][3]

Missiles[]

Nuclear missiles, positions[]

It is believed that the base is a missile launch facility for nuclear-tipped Jericho 2 IRBMs and probably Jericho 3 ICBMs. Likely positions of the launch sites with nearby bunkers are

 WikiMiniAtlas
31°43′47.9″N 34°55′45.7″E / 31.729972°N 34.929361°E / 31.729972; 34.929361 (Jericho missile bunkers) and
 WikiMiniAtlas
31°44′48.5″N 34°56′0.2″E / 31.746806°N 34.933389°E / 31.746806; 34.933389 (Jericho missile bunkers). Satellite images show these launch areas for mobile missiles very explicitly, which is part of their deterrence.[4][5][6]

The roads for the mobile missile systems are in between ridges of hills, which has the advantage that the missile bunkers could be dug into the limestone hills around and only need massive doors to protect them from nuclear explosions - direct hits excluded. The missile sites are also hidden there and cannot to be seen from the outside.[7]

Anti-missile system[]

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, Sdot Micha is also a location for the new Arrow 3 ABM, designed to intercept (nuclear) missiles coming from Iran. This is a joint venture of Israel and the United States and has been deployed there in the beginning of 2017. Satellite photos show the construction of four bunkers capable to withstand nuclear explosions. In each bunker a mobile launcher with six Arrow 3 missiles can be deployed. The US have accidentally published where the exact locations of the bunkers are:

 WikiMiniAtlas
31°45′18.5″N 34°54′35.6″E / 31.755139°N 34.909889°E / 31.755139; 34.909889 (Vier Arrow 3 Raketenbunker).[8][9][10]

Related nearby bases[]

All larger missiles of Israel are built in the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) MLM Division missile plant in Be'er Ya'akov, 20 km northwest to the base (

 WikiMiniAtlas
31°55′45.1″N 34°50′6.7″E / 31.929194°N 34.835194°E / 31.929194; 34.835194 (MLM Division (IAI) missile plant)).[11][12] Northwest near the base is also Tel Nof Airbase where F-15 jets can be equipped with nuclear bombs probably stored in the depot of Sdot Micha (
 WikiMiniAtlas
31°47′45.3″N 34°51′15.2″E / 31.795917°N 34.854222°E / 31.795917; 34.854222 (Depots auf Sdot Micha)).[13]

Units[]

  • Shavit (civilian Jericho 2) missile launching on June 11. 2007

  • Third stage of a Shavit / Jericho 2 with IAI logo

  • Test start of an Arrow 3 on February 25. 2013

  • Greek Orthodox monastery in Arab Palestinian village of Al-Burayj, 1948

  • Map of the depot and the Sdot Micha Airbase with notable missile sites

History[]

The base was established in 1962 on the land of the depopulated Palestinian Arab village of Al-Burayj.[14]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Bill Sweetman & David Eshel (22 October 2012). "More Than Meets The Eye In Mideast Face-Off: Why does Iran want the bomb?". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2017.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  2. ^ "Israeli Army Reveals Existence of Previously Undisclosed Air Force Base". Haaretz. 20 July 2017.
  3. ^ "IDF Reveals (Partially) Existence of Secret Nuclear Base Exposed Here Six Years Ago - Tikun Olam תיקון עולם". Tikun Olam תיקון עולם. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  4. ^ "Jericho 2". Missile Threat. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  5. ^ "Jericho 3". Missile Threat. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  6. ^ Kristensen, Hans M.; Norris, Robert S. (2014-11-01). "Israeli nuclear weapons, 2014". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 70 (6): 97–115. Bibcode:2014BuAtS..70f..97K. doi:10.1177/0096340214555409. ISSN 0096-3402.
  7. ^ "Zachariah - Israel - Special Weapons Facilities". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  8. ^ "Jane's: U.S.-Built $25-Million Base for Israel's Arrow 3 ABM, Built to Counter Iran - Tikun Olam תיקון עולם". Tikun Olam תיקון עולם. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  9. ^ "U.S. Exposes Location, Layout of Top-Secret Israeli Arrow 3 Missile Base - Tikun Olam תיקון עולם". Tikun Olam תיקון עולם. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  10. ^ "Arrow 3 Interceptor". www.iai.co.il. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  11. ^ "Systems Missiles & Space". www.iai.co.il. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  12. ^ IsraeliPM (2019-01-22), PM Netanyahu at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) MLM Division plant, retrieved 2019-06-10
  13. ^ "IDF / AF - Israel Air Bases". www.cieldegloire.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  14. ^ Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 282. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
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