This annotated chronology is based on the data sources that follow each entry. Public sources often provide conflicting information on classified military programs. In some cases we are unable to resolve these discrepancies, in others we have deliberately refrained from doing so to highlight the potential influence of false or misleading information as it appeared over time. In many cases, we are unable to independently verify claims. Hence in reviewing this chronology, readers should take into account the credibility of the sources employed here.
Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.
1980s
Libya is believed to have acquired 80 to 100 mobile Scud missile launchers from 1980 to 1989.
— Nicholas Rufford, "Libyans Smuggled Scuds through UK," Sunday Times, 9 January 2000.
March 1980
Libya and the West German company Orbital Transport und Raketen Aktiengessellschaft (Orbital Transport and Rocket Corporation, "OTRAG") conclude a deal that allows the company to move its booster rocket development program to Libya, after being expelled from Zaire, in exchange for providing Libya with the infrastructure and technology necessary for ballistic missile system production and development, and a missile system itself. A missile development center is built 750 kilometers (km) south of Tripoli near the town of Gawat.
— Joseph Bermudez, "Libya Missile Overview and Capabilities", <http://www.nti.org>.
16 October 1980
Libya is reportedly housing 3,000 antitank missiles that could be sent to Iran to defend against Iraq.
— Drew Middleton, "Allies of US Fear War May Drag in Other Arabs," New York Times, 16 October 1980.
2 March 1981
The French government confirms that it is halting delivery of 10 missile-carrying patrol boats ordered by Libya in 1977.
— Reuters, "Paris Withholds Boats for Libya," New York Times, 3 March 1981.
10 March 1981
West German rocket company OTRAG asserts that it successfully launched a suborbital rocket from a new test site in Libya. The company said the rocket could carry a 220- to 880-pound payload and could reach heights of 50 to 144 miles above the Earth.
— John Vinocur, "Enigmatic West German Rocket Concern Finds a Home in Libyan Desert," New York Times, 11 March 1981.
12 March 1981
Official Moroccan sources report that the Libyan government signed a contract with OTRAG to buy nuclear-capable medium-range missiles. The technical director of OTRAG denies that such a contract exists.
— Associated Press, "Libya Reported to Sign Contract to Buy Missiles," New York Times, 13 March 1981.
11 May 1981
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin declares that one of Syria's nine antiaircraft missile batteries just across the border is a Soviet-built SA-9 ("Gaskin") battery delivered from Libya.
— David K. Shipler, "Begin Says Syrians Have Increased Missiles in Lebanon and on Border," New York Times, 12 May 1981.
29 May 1981
Unidentified sources say that in April Libya delivered SA-9 Gaskin missiles to the pro-Libyan Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command.
— Jonathan C. Randall, "Israel Bombs Missile Site Near Beirut; Israeli Places Hit Near Beirut, Reportedly Destroy SAM Site; PLO's SAMs Reportedly From Libya," Washington Post, 29 May 1981.
14 August 1981
A Libyan diplomat in Beirut reports that Lebanon has accepted, "in principle," an offer from Libya for an air defense system, including missiles, to defend against Israeli aircraft.
— John Kifner, "Beirut to Accept Air Defense Plan," New York Times, 14 August 1981.
12 September 1981
According to US space and intelligence analysts, West German company OTRAG is building installations at Sebha, a site in central Libya, as part of Libya's overall effort to develop an indigenous production capability in missile parts and related technology.
— Judith Miller, "US Uneasy Over Military Potential of Commercially Produced Rockets," New York Times, 12 September 1981.
Late October 1981
OTRAG begins the process of complete withdrawal of personnel from its missile launching base at Jarmah, 430 miles south of Tripoli. OTRAG and intelligence officials report that the company's founder, aerospace engineer Lutz T. Kayser, is still in Libya collaborating on missile development. US intelligence reports revealed that Libyan military officials had been in charge of much of OTRAG's operations and intelligence officials said that a significant part of the budget of the Libyan Ministry of Atomic Energy was devoted to OTRAG-related activities.
— Judith Miller, "West German Rocket Company Pulls Out of Libya," New York Times, 27 December 1981.
12 March 1982
France delivers the first of 10 missile-firing patrol boats to Libya as part of a $600 million deal made in 1977.
— Reuters, "The First of 10 Missile Boats Delivered by France to Libya," New York Times, 16 March 1982.
21 March 1982
US Customs agents arrest seven US citizens who had planned to smuggle missiles to Libya.
— AP, "US Reports Plot to Smuggle Helicopters to Libya," New York Times, 21 March 1982.
7 May 1982
US military analysts believe Libya is a likely supplier of the French-made surface-to-surface Exocet missiles Argentina is using against British ships in the Falkland Islands.
— Richard Halloran, "Argentines Said to Seek More of French Missiles," New York Times, 7 May 1982.
5 June 1982
One British intelligence report says that Libya delivered Marte anti-ship air-to-surface missiles to Argentina, and a second report says the missiles are Israeli-made Gabriel sea-skimming ones.
— Diplomatic Correspondent, "Libya 'Sends Missiles to Argentina'," Financial Times, 5 June 1982.
12 August 1983
Libya may have acquired US-made Redeye antiaircraft missiles in the takeover of Chad's northern oasis of Faya-Largeau. The missiles were part of a $25 million aid package from the United States.
— Alan Cowell, "Key Town in Chad Reported to Fall to Libyan Assault," New York Times, 12 August 1983.
1984
German chemical firm Imhausen-Chemie AG signs an agreement with Mu'ammar Qadhdhafi to deliver a "pharmaceutical plant," later known as Rabta, which is actually the site of chemical weapons manufacturing, including missile production. The facility has two parts, one section to produce chemical agents, and the other called the "Metal Works" that had one plant to produce artillery shells, one plant for bomb making, and one plant for rocket and missile warhead production. The Metal Works was designed and built by Japan for $3 billion. C. Itoh was the Japanese trading organization that arranged construction for that part of the Rabta facility, and Japan Steel Works was the general contractor.
— William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem, Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons in a Fragmenting World (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).
17 September 1984
The New York Times reports that Libya provided SA-6 Gainful antiaircraft missiles to the Polisario Front, leftist guerillas fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara.
— Edward Schumacher, "Morocco Foresees Victory in Sahara," New York Times, 17 September 1984.
20 March 1985
Diplomats speculate that Libya may have supplied Iran with a limited number of long-range Soviet-built Scud missiles that Tehran used to attack Baghdad. Iran was not thought to have possessed long-range missiles capable of reaching Iraq's capital.
— Roger Matthews, "Baghdad Hit by Further Big Blast," Financial Times, 20 March 1985.
27 March 1985
Jane's Defence Weekly reports that Scud missiles have been supplied to Libya, Syria, and North Korea, although the origin of the Scuds remains unclear.
— "Iraqi Jets Attack Ship in Gulf, Kill 9 in Raid on Tehran," Los Angeles Times, 27 March 1985; Derek Wood, "Iran Uses Scud Missile Against Iraq," Jane's Defence Weekly, 30 March 1985.
21 December 1985
Reagan administration officials confirm rumors that Libya is installing Soviet-made SA-5 ("Gammon") long-range antiaircraft missiles in at least two locations, a move that enables Libya to target US Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft and P3 submarine hunters flying over the Gulf of Sidra, an area Libya considers its territorial waters.
— Bob Woodward and Lou Cannon, "Moscow Rebuffs Protest Over Libyan Missiles; US Weighed Military Response to Qaddafi," Washington Post, 21 December 1985.
January 1986
Due to its continuing sponsorship of terrorism, the United States imposes sanctions on Libya, which includes a total ban on direct import and export trade and commercial contracts.
1 January 1986
Egyptian government-owned newspaper Al-Ahram says Libya has completed construction of seven bases for Soviet-supplied antiaircraft missiles. It also reported that 2,000 Soviet experts arrived in Libya to operate the SA-5 missile bases.
— AP, "Libya Said to Install Missiles," New York Times, 1 January 1986.
8 January 1986
US officials believe the Soviet-made SA-5 antiaircraft missiles being deployed in Libya are likely to be operational this month, and that another shipment of SA-5s may be in progress. Twelve SA-5 missile launchers are being erected at a base on the Gulf of Sidra. Of the three Soviet versions of the SA-5 Gammon, Libya has received the second variant.
— Fred Hiatt, "Libyans Hurrying Deployment of Missiles, US Officials Say; Antiaircraft Weapons Likely to be Operational This Month," Washington Post, 8 January 1986.
12 January 1986
The official Kuwaiti News Agency quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying Libya used Soviet-supplied surface-to-air missiles to shoot down a US Navy FA-18 fighter. A US Defense Department spokesman said the plane disappeared during a routine training mission.
— Associate Press-Reuters, "Khadafy Asks Reagan to Visit Him in Libya," Toronto Star, 12 January 1986.
26 January 1986
To assert claims of Libyan sovereignty, Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qadhdhafi sails out to the Gulf of Sidra in a patrol boat laden with four French-made Matra surface-to-surface missiles.
— Associated Press-Reuters, "Khadafy Sails on Armed Boat to Confront US 6th Fleet," Toronto Star, 26 January 1986.
30 January 1986
US administration officials report that SA-5 antiaircraft missiles at the Libyan coastal city of Sirte have become operational. US reconnaissance satellites spotted additional SA-5 missile sites at Tripoli and Binghazi, but reported that there are no launchers or missiles in place.
— George C. Wilson, "Qaddafi Threatening US Planes; Libyan Has Some New Missiles Ready for Use," Washington Post, 30 January 1986.
27 February 1986
Italian airman Guiseppe Franchi, a noncommissioned officer in the Italian Air Force who worked at the command center of a NATO nuclear missile base, is arrested on espionage charges that he sold secret documents and disclosed classified information to Libyan agents.
— "Italian Airman Held in Spying on NATO," New York Times, 27 February 1986.
April 1986
Libya accelerates efforts to make a second SA-5 antiaircraft site operational by mid-April and reportedly has missiles already at the site in Binghazi.
— George C. Wilson, "Libya Hastens to Arm Second Missile Site, US Says; Coastal Antiaircraft Emplacement at Benghazi May Be Ready by Mid-Month," Washington Post, 4 April 1986.
April 1986
Libya sends at least two surface-to-air missiles to the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
— "The Weapons that were Intercepted," The Irish Times, 27 June 2000.
13 June 1986
US officials report that Libya's SA-5 missile site at Sirte, bombed by the US Navy during the Gulf of Sidra operations, is back in service with all 12 launchers ready to fire. The second missile site at Binghazi is partially operational.
— George C. Wilson, "Libya Upgrades Air Defenses With New Missile Site on Gulf; Gadhafi Has Yet to Rally His Tarnished Military," Washington Post, 13 June 1986.
24 November 1986
Britain's Sunday Telegraph reports that Libya has acquired nerve-gas warheads from the Soviet Union for its Soviet-built Scud-B missiles and has passed some on to Syria and Iran.
— Associated Press, "Soviets Sold Nerve Gas to Libya Paper Says," Toronto Star, 24 November 1986.
September 1986
A smuggled shipment of Libyan arms to the IRA, including 10 SA-7 ("Grail") antiaircraft missiles, arrives in Ireland aboard the vessel Villa.
— "Smuggled Arsenal Lies under the Fields," The Times (London), 20 October 1998; "The Weapons that Were Intercepted," The Irish Times, 27 June 2000.
22 December 1986
Germany's Stern magazine reports that West German electronics experts and engineers have secretly helped build and flight-test missiles for Libya under the code name "Project Ittisalat." Electronic equipment and missile parts were sent to Libya labeled as "technical goods," and the missiles were assembled and tested at a secret site in the Tibesti desert. Stern reports that the Libyan contact is Salah Farkash, brother-in-law of Colonel Qadhdhafi and representative of the state-controlled Technical Industrial Corporation of Tripoli.
— John England, "Germans 'Helping Gadaffi'," The Times (London), 22 December 1986.
22 December 1986
The German-Libyan missiles developed under Project Ittisalat could travel over 310 miles, double the range of the Scud and Frog missiles the Soviet Union has supplied to Libya.
— Anna Tomforde, "Inquiry on Rockets for Tripoli; West German Arms Supplies to Libya," The Guardian (London), 22 December 1986.
22 March 1987
Qadhdhafi pledges to join the Warsaw Pact and deploy Soviet nuclear missiles along Libya's coast if the United States attacks Libyan territory again.
— Reuters, "Libya Can Get Soviet Missiles to Fight US Gadhafi Warns," Toronto Star, 23 March 1987.
3 May 1987
US officials express concern about Libyan efforts to buy a 300-mile-range missile from West German firms.
— George C. Wilson and Molly Moore, "Libya Turns to China for Weapons," Washington Post, 3 May 1987.
9 June 1987
Libya gives Uganda short-range antiaircraft missiles, the latest of several arms shipments according to unnamed diplomatic sources.
— S. O'Connor, "Libya Arms Go to Uganda," Telegraph, 9 June 1987.
11 September 1987
US officials say Libya and Syria have been providing Iran with long-range surface-to-surface missiles.
— David B. Ottaway, "In a Rare Joint Effort, Superpowers Press Libya; Gadhafi Cautioned on Arms Deal with Iran," Washington Post, 11 September 1987.
7 November 1987
France intercepts an arms shipment from Libya to the Irish Republican Army that includes 20 Soviet-made SA-7 Grail surface-to-air missiles.
— David B. Ottaway, "US Lauds French Move against Libya; 150-Tom Arms Shipment Intercepted en Route to Irish Rebels," Washington Post, 7 November 1987.
31 December 1987
A London newspaper reports that Libya has agreed to give some of its advanced Scud-B missiles to Iran in exchange for Iranian chemical arms.
— Associated Press, "Iran Denies It's Building Chemical Weapons," Toronto Star, 31 December 1987.
22 January 1988
Irish police say the IRA may have smuggled as many as 12 surface-to-air missiles from Libya into Ireland.
— "Missiles 'Smuggled'," Financial Times, 22 January 1988.
25 January 1988
Rumors circulate of a possible oil-for-arms deal in which Libya would supply oil to Brazil in exchange for missiles and tanks.
— Marlise Simons, "Gulf War Spurs Brazil Arms Makers," New York Times, 25 December 1988.
27 January 1988
A Libyan military delegation arrives in Brazil to begin negotiating an arms deal estimated at $2 billion that includes buying Brazilian technology to build ballistic missiles at a factory in Libya originally built by the West German firm OTRAG. Part of the deal is also to include short-range surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. Libya is also believed to have offered $2 billion over five years to Orbita Sistemas Espaciais, a company partly owned by the Brazilian government, to finance development of a new generation of medium-range ballistic missiles.
— "Brazil Warned By US on Arms Sales to Gadaffi," Financial Times, 27 January 1988.
31 January 1988
US officials protest a potential Libyan deal with Brazil in which Libya could acquire missiles with a range of 625 miles – increasing current Libyan missile capabilities by 500 miles.
— John Barham, "Brazil Ignored US Protest Over Arms for Libya," The Times (London), 31 January 1988.
4 February 1988
Brazilian military sources in Jane's Defense Weekly report that Libya has offered to invest $2 billion in developing Brazilian tactical missiles, in return for an option to acquire some.
— "Libya-Brazil Arms Deal," Financial Times, 4 February 1988.
24 June 1988
Unnamed diplomats say Libya and Syria have been negotiating with China to buy the M-9 (CSS-6) missile. Libya already has the Soviet-built Frog-7, SS-21 ("Scarab") and SS-1 Scud surface-to-surface missiles. The M-9 exceeds current Libyan capabilities (the SS-1 has a range of only 150 miles) with an estimated range of 375 miles.
— Ihsan A. Hijazi, "Arab Lands Said to be Turning to China for Arms," New York Times, 24 June 1988.
3 July 1988
A Libyan agreement with a Brazilian firm for the research and development of two missiles with ranges of 375 miles and 625 miles appears to have collapsed. Libya has turned to China after failing to acquire Soviet SS-21s and is trying to buy "East Wind" 3A missiles (CSS-2) with a range of 1,600.
— Marie Colvin, "Gadaffi Bids for Missiles," The Times (London), 3 July 1988.
Late July 1988
The US Senate passes a resolution calling on China to halt the sale of ballistic missiles to Libya, among others.
— "China Attacks Senate," Washington Post, 1 August 1988.
Early January 1989
Libya invites foreign journalists to visit the Rabta facility to disprove suspicions that it is a chemical weapons complex. During the visit, a reporter from Britain's Guardian newspaper sees two missile batteries of apparently French-built Crotales guarding the facility. A Times reporter says that the United States suspects the area is protected by Soviet missiles.
— David Hirst, "Libya Keeps Foreign Journalists in the Dark," The Guardian (London), 9 January 1989; Nicholas Beeston, "Libya Expels Newsmen After Visit Backfires," The Times (London), 9 January 1989.
23 February 1989
China officially denies the potential sale to Libya of any chemical weapons-capable missiles. [Note: See 12 December 1989 entry.]
— William Safire, "Those Chinese Missiles," New York Times, 23 February 1989.
6 October 1989
The United States objects to the planned sale of missile engine technology by the French government to Brazil, saying the technology for the liquid fuel motor could end up in Libyan hands.
— "France Defies US on Technology Deal," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6 October 1989.
8 October 1989
West German technicians are helping Libya develop a conventional- and chemical weapons-capable ballistic missile with a range of 300 to 450 miles under a project codenamed Ittisalat.
— "Libya Said Planning Long-Range Missile," St. Petersburg Times, 8 October 1989.
11 October 1989
West Germany's government could not confirm or apparently deny that 100 West German engineers were helping Libya develop missile capabilities as part of a project called Ittisalat.
— "Bonn Won't Confirm Report of Aid to Libya," Boston Globe, 11 October 1989.
12 December 1989
According to the Jerusalem Post, Libya is financing Syria's purchase of 140 Chinese M-9 missiles, which have a range of approximately 600 miles, and will keep 60 of the missiles as payment. China had originally denied that such a sale was going to take place. [Note: See 23 February 1989 entry.]
— Kenneth Kaplan, "Syria, China Sign Missile Deal," Jerusalem Post, 12 December 1989.
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Updated September 2005 |
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