Taj al Marik
33°01'N 44°10'E
Taj al Marik, located 47 km SW of Baghdad, is part of the Balat al Shuhada group of facilities
under the control of the Technical Corps for Special Projects [TECO/Techcorp/TCSP] responsible for development of the BADR-2000 missile. This plant produced solid propellant for the BADR system All buildings and equipment involved in the BARR program were destroyed under UNSCOM supervision.
In the mid-1980s Iraqi procurement activities aimed at developing a 2000 kilometer-range nuclear-capable missile, known in the West as Condor-2, which the Iraqis referred to as Badr-2000 or Project 395. Condor-2 was initially intended to grow out of an existing shorter-range missile developed by Argentina with German assistance, the Condor-1. Major transfers of technology to Argentina were conducted by Germany's premier aerospace concern, MBB. Major firms across Europe were all contributing to the joint Iraqi-Argentinean-Egyptian program. SNIA BPD in Italy provided solid-fuel propellant technology; Sagem in France sold guidance kits, and Egypt's Abu Zaabal Specialty Chemical Company helped to build the Taj al-Ma'arik solid fuel propellant plant in Latifiyah (al Hillah).
International and regional communications, consisting of the two satellite earth stations at Dujail and Latifiyah, two international exchanges in Baghdad, and microwave and coaxial cable links to Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Kuwait, were destroyed 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 no coverage of this specific location.
Sources and Resources
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/facility/taj_al_marik.htm
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Updated Monday, October 09, 2000 7:47:23 PM
