Background Information on Al Qa Qaa

[Q]

Al Qa Qaa General Establishment
Al Qaqa State Establishment
Badr General Establishment

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/facility/al_qa_qaa.htm

Al Yusufiyah
PPL 33°04'56"N 44°15'10"E

Nahr al Yusufiyah Jadwal al Yusufiyah / Nahr al Yusufiyah al Hadis]
STM 33°08'00"N 44°04'00"E

Iskandariya
PPL 32°53'36"N 44°21'06"E


Al Qa Qaa is located in Yousefiya 30-38 km South of Baghdad, near Iskandariya. The actual Iraqi name for the complex is the al Qa Qaa Government Enterprise. The complex consists of at least a solid propellant facility, a suspected Scud production facility, a SSM equipment production facility, an unidentified facility under construction as of late 1990, and the Latifiyah BW facility located at the eastern end of the complex which is part of an overall complex known as the Latifiya Explosives and Ammunition Plant al Qa Qaa.

Entities at this facility include:
• Aqaba Ibn Nafa'a Gen. Est. -- metal casings for Project 946
• Khalid factory -- Production of Al Hussein class missiles (warheads)
• Project 144/7 -- Production of Al Hussein class missiles (liquid propellants)
• Project 144/5 (Farooq project) -- Production of Al Hussein class missiles (launchers) Facility abandoned in 1988 after destruction during an industrial accident at the site
• Saddam Gen. Est. -- nuclear parts, lasers and optical equipment, Tamouz missile
• Umm Al Marik Est. -- missile fuel and warheads
• Al Yarmouk Gen. Est. -- missile parts, ammunition with special specifications

Al Qa Qaa was responsible for the explosive filling of long-range missile warheads.

Warhead processing facilities at the site were destroyed under UNSCOM supervision.

Iraq made significant progress in the development of the nuclear weapon implosion package, largely through efforts at the Al Qa Qaa establishment. The involvement of the Al Qa Qaa State Establishment in support of the development of the implosion package began in 1987.

The Nassr industrial complex southwest of Baghdad contained dozens of state-of-the-art major manufacturing facilities such as steel and aluminum production facilities, steel and aluminum casting facilities, numerous machine shops, huge presses and high-temperature furnaces and sophisticated welding equipment used to work with very high strength steel and aluminum, and a research and development center. The heavily guarded Nassr complex also produced components for Iraq's nuclear centrifuge program and was the site of a centrifuge manufacturing plant. Nassr also contributed to Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programs. Much of the equipment at the Nassr complex was obtained through Iraqi procurement fronts operating in Europe and the United States. Nassr was a prime target for allied bombing during the Gulf War.

Imagery Evaluation Report
As of 09 October 2000 the TerraServer archive included no SPIN-2 coverage of this area. The Space Imaging Carterra Archive had one image that appears to cover part of this area.



Sources and Resources
• Major Sites Associated With Iraq's Past WMD Programs UNSCOM 3 December 1997

• IKONOS 1m 2000/07/28 2000072807463490000011603273

[Eloriel]

1. A kick -- before

this rattles off into the netherworld of dysfunctional archives. :-(

[Mandate My Ass]

2. This would be in addition to the 6 or 7 nuclear sites looted

in May 2003? Enriched uranium and explosives go missing and no alarms are going off anywhere?

At least we're safe from Saddam.