RAWALPINDI – In a major defence achievement, Pakistan Thursday conducted successful training launch of surface to surface ballistic missile, Shaheen-II.
The training launch was aimed at ensuring operational readiness of Army Strategic Forces Command. Shaheen-II Missile is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads upto a range of 1,500 kilometers. Shaheen-II is a highly capable missile which meets Pakistan’s strategic needs towards maintenance of desired deterrence stability in the region.
The training launch, having its impact point in the Arabian Sea, was witnessed by Director General Strategic Plans Division, Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, Chairman NESCOM, senior officers from the Army Strategic Forces Command, Scientists and Engineers of the strategic organizations.
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) and Services Chiefs congratulated the Scientists and Engineers on conduct of the successful training launch. President and Prime Minister of Pakistan have also conveyed their congrats on the achievement.
It seems that the army picked Ramazan 17 for the nuclear missile test on purpose as it is the day of the battle of Badr – the first battle fought between Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and infidels of Mekkah where 313 outgunned, outnumbered Muslims led by the Prophet (PBUH) destroyed a strong army of a 1000 pagans and course of history was changed forever.
It merits mention that three years back in December 2015, Pakistan had also successfully conducted flight test of Shaheen-III surface to surface ballistic missile, with a maximum range of 2750 kilometers.
The test flight was aimed at validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system.
The successful flight test with its impact point in the Arabian Sea, validating all the desired parameters was witnessed by senior officers from Strategic Plans Division, Strategic Forces, Scientists and Engineers of Strategic Organizations.
In April 2018, Pakistan conducted a successful test of an enhanced version of the locally developed Babur ballistic cruise missile.
In a statement, the military said the Babur Weapon System-1 “can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy, at a range of 700 kilometers.”
“It is a low flying, terrain-hugging missile, which also carries certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads,” the statement added.
In year 2017, the Pakistani military had test-fired its first submarine-launched cruise missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and giving the country a credible second strike capability. Nuclear-armed Pakistan said the Babur Cruise-3 missile has a range of 450 kilometers and can fly low to evade radar and air defenses.
Pakistan and its neighbor and archrival India have been developing missiles of varying ranges since they conducted nuclear tests in May 1998.
