Former US military and State Department officials say Israel was arming three diesel submarines with newly designed cruise missiles that could carry nuclear warheads. The development would give Israel a sea-based alternative to land or air-based nuclear weapons. The nation has refused to say if it has nuclear weapons but US analysts say it has a small atomic arsenal. Israeli testing of the new cruise missile two years ago in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka was monitored by the US Navy, according to former Pentagon officials. Although US analysts studied the nuclear capability of the missile, it was âabove top secret whether the sub-launched missiles are nuclear-armed,â one former senior American official was quoted as saying.
Tough, when you just don't know, ain't it? |