Nuclear Weapons Controversy
He claimed that the United States and the Soviet Union met in 1978 to discuss South Africa's nuclear weapons programme, and that the Soviets proposed a pre-emptive strike on the Pelindaba plant.
In February 1994, he told Des Blow of the Johannesburg City Press that the Vela Incident was the result of a joint Israeli-South African nuclear test, code-named Operation Phoenix. He stated that he had no official knowledge of the alleged test, but was not ready to provide further details. In a subsequent interview with David Albright in March 1994, he stated that no South African warships had been involved, but declined to provide further details.
Popular Mechanics contends that the mystery surrounding the incident may finally have been resolved if Gerhardt were a more credible source, while other authors suggest that newly declassified documents increase the credibility of his claims..
Read more about this topic: Dieter Gerhardt
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