Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Israel is believed to have modified a U.S. weapon for
nuclear attacks, a report said.

The British American Security Information Council asserted that Israel
has been developing nuclear weapons for air- and sea-based attacks. In a
report, the council said Israel is believed to have produced cruise
missiles with nuclear warheads.

“These are thought to be armed with dual capable cruise missiles which were developed in Israel, with each missile having an estimated range of 1,500 kilometers,” the report said. “It is also believed that the submarines are armed with modified U.S. Harpoon anti-ship missiles, some of which could have been modified to carry nuclear weapons to land targets.”

The study, entitled “Beyond the United Kingdom: Trends in the Other Nuclear Armed States,” did not provide details of the Harpoon modification, first reported in 2003. Israel was said to have received more than 100 Harpoons, with a range of 130 kilometers.

Author Ian Kearns said Israel was also believed to have installed
nuclear warheads on its Dolphin-class electric-diesel submarines acquired from Germany over the last decade. The report said Israel could also use its F-15 fighter-jet fleet for nuclear strikes.

“Some of these could have subsequently been made suitable for the
delivery of nuclear weapons, since in the United States the F-15E Strike
Eagle has the nuclear role,” the report said.

The report said it could not determine the size of Israel’s nuclear
arsenal. Estimates by Western think tanks have ranged from 100 to 400
nuclear warheads.

“All of these are problematic,” the report said, “because in the absence
of any official information, they are forced to rely on questionable
assumptions about several important aspects of the Israeli nuclear
programme, such as the amount of weapons-grade plutonium that Israel may or
may not have been able to produce over the years at its main reactor near
Dimona, the weapons designs used by Israel, and the efficiency of the
weapons production process itself.”

  Report: Israel may have armed U.S. cruise missiles with nuclear warheads