Saudi Arabia may have built first ballistic missile factory as images shows mysterious plant

Saudi Arabia could have built its first ballistic missile factory, after new satellite images of what appears of a rocket building plant emerged. 

The pictures show what could be a rocket engine testing area and weapons building sites for solid fuel, experts say.

Military analysts say the images suggest the kingdom could have constructed its first known ballistic missile factory.

If operational, the suspected factory at a missile base in al-Watah, 125 miles southwest of the capital Riyadh, would allow Saudi Arabia to manufacture its own ballistic missiles.

It is feared the development could be a sign of a growing arms race with Saudi’s regional rival, Iran.

Saudi Arabia does not have nuclear weapons, so missiles currently produced at the factory would likely be armed with standard bombs.

But if the kingdom did develop nuclear capability any factory of this kind would form part of the construction of its delivery method.  

Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, has been defence minister since 2015 and warned last March that his country would quickly obtain a nuclear bomb if arch rival Iran successfully develops its own nuclear weapon.

Two missile experts, Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reviewed the satellite images.

The both told the Washington Post that the high-resolution photographs of the site appear to show a ­rocket engine production and test facility, probably using solid fuel.  

If operational the suspected factory would allow Saudi Arabia to manufacture its own ballistic missiles, experts warned 

It is not known from the images if the facility has been finished or if it is capable of manufacturing viable missiles. 

A rocket base at al-Watah first became public in 2013 after Jane’s Defense Weekly published satellite images of the military facility, suspected of housing Chinese ballistic missiles.

Analysts said the base has a launchpad, underground tunnels and administrative buildings, but across the road an entirely new facility had emerged, which resembled a rocket engine factory designed to make ballistic missiles. 

The area that appears to be a rocket engine test stand concerned the experts the most as it suggests the facility was probably designed to produce ­solid-fuel rockets rather than ­liquid-fuel ones. 

These tare usually more sought after because they can be hidden easily and launched quicker than conventional rockets. 

Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, discovered the factory with his team when looking at satellite images of the area around the base.

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud shares a laugh with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2018

He told the Washington Post: ‘The possibility that Saudi Arabia is going to build longer-range missiles and seek nuclear weapons – we imagine that they can’t. But we are maybe underestimating their desire and their capabilities.’ 

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a conflict that many view as a proxy war in Yemen between the regional rivals. 

Earlier this month a UN report said fuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen to finance their war against the government.

It added that both sides are violating international law with their military campaigns and arbitrary detention of rivals. 

In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes last March Bin Salman claimed Iran’s leader, Hassan Rouhani, is behaving like Adolf Hitler during the rise of Nazi Germany.