Jericho

It is believed that the base is a missile launch facility for nuclear-tipped Jericho 2 IRBMs and probably Jericho 3 ICBMs. Satellite images show launch areas for mobile missiles very explicitly, which is part of their deterrence.^[12][13][14]

The roads for the mobile missile systems are in between ridges of hills, which has the advantage that the missile bunkers could be dug into the limestone hills around and only need massive doors to protect them from nuclear explosions – direct hits excluded. The missile sites are also hidden there and cannot to be seen from the outside.^[15]

Arrow

In 2012, an Arrow 2 missile battery – the third in Israel alongside Palmachim and Ein Shemer – has been deployed there, near the moshav Tal Shahar.^[16] The Arrow system was developed jointly by Israel and the USA in the 1990s and can shoot down incoming nuclear missiles at high altitudes. For target detection and tracking, it uses the Super Green Pine Radar installed on Ein Shemer with a range of 1,000 kilometers. The Arrow system is operated by the Israeli Air Defense Command, a division of the IAF.

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, Sdot Micha is also a location for the new Arrow 3 ABM, deployed there in the beginning of 2017. Satellite photos show four rectangular bunkers capable to withstand nuclear explosions and nearby sites of mobile launchers with six Arrow 3 missiles each. The US have accidentally published where the exact locations of the bunkers are.^[17][18][19]

According to press reports, there is also a test stand for rocket engines on the site, where, among other things, the engine for the new Arrow 4 rocket is being tested. In April 2021, the loud sound of an explosion could be heard from there.^[20]

Palestine War 1948

Before the 1948 Palestine War, the Palestinian Arab village Al-Burayj (Bureij) was located on the site of today's base, but its residents fled or were expelled in the course of the fighting.^[24] The taking of the village by Israeli soldiers happened at the beginning of Operation Ha-Har on the night of 19 to 20 October 1948.^[25]

• Greek Orthodox monastery in Arab Palestinian village of Al-Burayj, 1948
• Another photo of the village Al-Burayj after its capture by Israel soldiers in 1948
• Map of the village Al-Burayj (Bureij) and its surroundings in 1947
• Villages captured by Israel soldiers during Operation Ha-Har in October 1948, Bureij to the left

Built in 1962

The extensive base was established in 1962 under the Hebrew name 2 כנף (Wing 2) by the later commander of the IAF Benjamin "Benny" Peled.^[26]

Yom Kippur War 1973

On 6 October 1973 Egypt and Syria surprisingly attacked Israel on Yom Kippur holiday. As they initially pushed the IDF back, nuclear bombs are said to have already been mounted on F-15 jets at Tel Nof Airbase and also on Jericho missiles at Sdot Micha, in order to strike with nuclear weapons if the enemy armies advanced further.^[27] If this is true, it didn't happen because Israel was able to push both armies back.

Hamas terror attack 2023

On the morning of 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, a missile fired from the Gaza Strip is said to have hit the base compound, causing a wildfire of 40 hectares, but no military facilities were seriously damaged, as The New York Times claims to have found out based on satellite images. At the same time, it was emphasized that the nuclear warheads presumably stored there in bunkers could never detonate by an accident or external influence.^[28]