For the first time since 2012, Pakistan tests a nuclear-capable
medium-range ballistic missile.
The Pakistani military successfully test-fired a medium-range ballistic
missile (MRBM) this Wednesday.
The
nuclear-capable Ghauri MRBM (aka Hatf-V), developed by Khan Research
Laboratories under the Pakistani-integrated missile research and development
program, is allegedly a variation of North Korea’s Rodong-1 missile.
The test
was conducted by the Strategic Missile Group of the Army Strategic Forces
Command (ASFC). “The training launch of the Ghauri missile system was aimed at
testing operational and technical readiness,” the military said in a statement.
The head
of the Strategic Plans Division, Lt. Gen. Zubair Mahmood Hayat, congratulated the
scientists, engineers, and all ranks of the strategic forces, expressing his
satisfaction with the “excellent standard” displayed by Pakistan’s strategic
forces.
It
appears that the test involved a Ghauri-I MRBM with a range of 1,300 kilometers
(807 miles) and the capacity to carry up to a 700 kilogram conventional or
nuclear warhead. The missile was launched from a transporter erector launcher
on the Tilla Test Range in Jhelum District, Pakistan, according to army-technology.com.
Pakistan
also fields the Ghauri-II MRBM, with a maximum range of 2,300 kilometers. The
development of a third variant, the Ghauri-III, with a range of up to 3,000
kilometers, has been abandoned for unknown reasons. The last test of a Ghauri
MRBM occurred in November 2012.
Back
then, various Pakistani experts voiced concerns that the missile may not be
capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and that it also might not be the ideal
weapon of choice for Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent vis-à-vis India and
other operational needs. Mansoor Ahmed, a lecturer in the Department of Defense
and Strategic Studies at Quaid-e-Azam University, noted:
Unlike
solid-fueled missiles, liquid-fueled ballistic missiles cannot store the fuel
for long periods and have to be refueled prior to launch, which takes several
hours, thus making them vulnerable to first strikes. Given the relative lack of
Pakistan’s strategic depth, such systems are not the first choice in missile
systems for nuclear warhead delivery, which explains why the Ghauri remains the
only liquid-fueled system in its missile inventory.
However,
testing liquid-fueled missiles is a cheaper alternative to solid-fueled MRBMs
when testing launch and control systems, he acknowledged.
Islamabad
did not have to wait long for New Delhi’s reaction. The following day, April
15, the Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command successfully tested the
nuclear-capable Agni-III surface-to-surface missile from Wheeler Island, off of
the Odisha coast.
According
to army-technology.com,
the Agni-III is “a two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile designed to
intercept targets located at a distance of 3,500km to 5,000km.”
Tensions between India and Pakistan
are higher than usual since last Friday, when Islamabad released on bail
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks
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