Lebanese source: Mobile missile launchers can hit any target in Israel

Launched from camouflaged truck mounted containers, Fateh 110 ballistic guided missiles could strike most of the relevant targets in Israel, the Lebanese Daily Star reports.

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The Patah 110 was originally developed using the SA-2 launcher but has since received a dedicated carriage. The missiles supplied to theHezbollah are believed to be stored and camouflaged in shipping containers, modified into transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) assembly. Photo: IRNA

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fatah110range
The range of 350km from Beirut, depicting the maximum range of Fatah 110 missiles. Map layer: Google Earth

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fatah110range
The range of 350km from Beirut, depicting the maximum range of Fatah 110 missiles. Map layer: Google Earth

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Israel believes Hezbollah also has acquired a “few dozen” Scud D missiles with a range of 700 kilometers stashed in the northern Bekaa. The Lebanese Daily Star reports.

However, the Scud D is a logistical headache for Hezbollah compared to other rocket systems. Scuds are liquid-fueled which makes for a lengthy, complicated and potentially hazardous launching process compared to solid-fueled alternatives. They also require dedicated truck-sized launch platforms that are harder to smuggle into Lebanon, hide and employ without being spotted. The solid-fueled Fateh A-110s and M600s, on the other hand, are thought to be launched from converted shipping containers mounted on the backs of trucks. The roof of the shipping container flips open allowing the launch rail to be raised and the missile fired.

Most targets in Israel worthy of Hezbollah’s attention are found in the northern half of the country where the bulk of the population lives and where most of Israel’s military facilities, businesses and industries are located. There is relatively little worth striking in Israel south of a line drawn between Ashdod and Jerusalem, a distance of 143 kilometers from the Lebanese border, which puts the main target bank well within reach of the M600s, let alone fourth-generation Fatehs.

The one exception south of the Ashdod-Jerusalem line is Israel’s nuclear reactor at Dimona. If Israel were to launch an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, a retaliatory Scud strike by Hezbollah against Dimona may have been suitably reciprocal and possibly worth the logistical challenges posed by the missile. But if Hezbollah really has acquired the fourth-generation Fateh missile, the party would seem to no longer require the cumbersome Scuds for the purpose of attacking Dimona.

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