Pakistan conducts first flight test of surface-to-surface n-missile

Pakistan on Tuesday "successfully" test-fired indigenously-developed surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile, Ababeel, with a range of 2,200 km, an official said.

"Pakistan successfully conducted first flight test of SSM Ababeel, Range 2,200 kilometres," Major General Asif Ghafoor, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The missile is capable of delivering multiple warheads, using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology. "The test flight was aimed at validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system," Maj Gen Ghafoor said in a statement.

"Ababeel is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating the enemy's hostile radars," it added.

The development of Ababeel Weapon System was aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan's ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment. "This will further reinforce deterrence," he said.

The development comes over two weeks after indigenously-developed submarine-launched cruise missile Babur-III was successfully test-fired.

The Babur weapons system incorporates advanced aerodynamics and avionics that can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy at a range of 700 km, according to ISPR. It has been described as a low flying, terrain hugging missile, which carries certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads.

--IANS

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