Tel AvivEdited By: Mukul SharmaUpdated: Oct 12, 2023, 08:20 PM IST Fuente: Wionews https://www.wionews.com/world/what-is-jericho-missile-system-israels-potential-doomsday-nuclear-option-645628
An Israeli legislator’s recent calls for the use of a “doomsday” weapon against Hamas and Palestine have once again put the spotlight on nuclear weapons in West Asia, particularly the Jericho missile system.
Revital “Tally” Gotliv, an Israeli lawyer and member of the Knesset representing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, made several posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating that Israel must consider nuclear warfare as an alternative to deploying large ground forces.
“Jericho Missile! Jericho Missile! Strategic alert. before considering the introduction of forces. Doomsday weapon! This is my opinion. May God preserve all our strength,” Gotliv wrote on X.
What is Jericho ballistic missile program?
Gotliv specifically mentioned “Jericho,” referring to Israel’s original ballistic missile programme, initiated in the 1960s and named after the biblical city located in West Bank.
This programme was initially a collaboration with the French aerospace company Dassault, but when France withdrew in 1969, Israel continued its development. The Jericho-1 model, which was operational during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, came out as an accomplishment of the said programme.
The Jericho-1, which was retired in the 1990s, had a weight of 6.5 tonnes, a length of 13.4 metres, and a diameter of 0.8 metres, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Newsweek reported.
It had a range of 500 kilometres (approximately 310.6 miles) and could carry a 1,000-kilogramme (about 2,205-pound) payload, though it had a 50 per cent chance of hitting within a 1,000-metre radius of its target.
Israel later developed the Jericho-2, a longer-range missile in the late 1980s, with a length of 15 metres and a diameter of 1.35 metres, while maintaining the same payload capacity. It had a range between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres (about 932 to 2,175 miles).
The Jericho-3, an intermediate-range system, was introduced years later and was reportedly tested in 2008, entering service in 2011. It featured improvements over the previous models, with a longer length than Jericho-2 and a larger diameter of 1.56 metres.
Its single warhead weighed approximately 750 kg (1,653 pounds) and had a range of 4,800 to 6,500 km (about 2,983 to 4,039 miles). The payload capacity extended to about 1,300 kgs (2,866 pounds).
It is yet not clear if Jericho-3 has been deployed by Israel during ongoing retaliatory offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
(With inputs from agencies)
