Pakistan launches Hatf IV Shaheen-1A
Pakistani defence officials made an announcement last Wednesday that they have successfully test fired the Medium Range Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile (MRBM) Hatf IV Shaheen-1A.
The Shaheen-1A, which is capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads, is an improvement from the Shaheen-1 as far as the strike range and accuracy is considered. The operational range of Shaheen-1A is speculated to be 1,500 km, while that of the Shaheen-1 is just 750 km. As per the requirement, the Pakistani defence machinery had informed their Indian counterparts in advance about the long range missile test in Indian Ocean. This has to be done as per the agreement reached between the two nations in May 2005.
Khalid Ahmed, the Director General Strategic Plans Division, claimed that the new missile will further strengthen the strike capability of Pakistan Armed Forces. Talat Masood, a retired Pakistan Army General acknowledged the competition between India and Pakistan and said that the testing of Shaheen-1A was made to coincide with the Agni-V testing for political reasons.
The Shaheen-1, which is a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), lacked the capability to strike in most of the major Indian cities. It was first tested in 2003. The Shaheen-1A belongs to MRBM category and can successfully target several of the Indian cities. Another Pakistani MRBM, the Shaheen-II was successfully tested in 2004. It is having an operational range of 2,500 km. Shaheen-III, which is still in the development phase, is speculated to be having a range of up to 3,500 km. Pakistan is yet to develop any ICBMs.
According to defence analysts, there is a lot of similarity in features between the newly tested ballistic missile and the American MRBM MGM-31 Pershing. Although the exact operational range is classified, various reliable sources estimate it to be in the range of 1,000 to 1,500 km. The missile is capable of carrying a conventional warhead weighing 1,000 kg. It can be also used to carry multiple nuclear warheads.
7 Comments
why pakistan did not fire ghauri-III or shaheen -III
First of All thank GOD. i Love PAKISTAN.PAKISTAN ZIndabad.
First of all congratulations to our scientist and engineers for this success. Having said that I also believe that it is a waste of time and resources for these kind of Tit for Tat mentality. If we are so consumed by this Tit for Tat mentality then how come powers to be do not look at the strength of IAF. I believe we should start paying more attention to our fragile air-force. We are 100% outclassed, outnumbered and way behind in this particular area. We can not match IAF equipment to equipment but we should try and use our resource to at least bring PAF 1/2 of what IAF has. We need to sincerely start thinking about MKI and Rafale and PAK-FA and all the efforts should be shift towards acquiring some state of the art aircrafts which could exactly match MKI and Rafales. I am not talking about buying in numbers but at least 36+ Aircrafts of MKI level and 70+ aircrafts of Rafale level. I am proud of JF-17 but it can not match MKI or Rafale. We also need to start making our air defense more potent. Please no more nuclear deterrent. We have enough of that.
I did not mean to undermine the hard work and achievements of our nuclear and missile technology scientists. They are a real asset of our country. But be realistic. We can not start a nuclear war period. Yes we may use our strategic weapons if we will be in danger of loosing our territory other then that the theory that we would not be attacked from the east no matter what just because we have nuclear deterrent is not that reliable.
If that would be the case then why would world powers plus India be putting this much emphasis on getting the air superiority. This is what India’s major defense doctrine is. And this is where they have made major investments and used their resources. After Air Force strengthening then next should be Pakistan Navy.
May Allah keep us safe and give our leaders insight to really access the real danger. The mighty Indian Air Force is the real danger. Let us not kid with ourselves and accept the realty and then we should do some thing about it. Pakistan Zinda Bad
@Farooqi1 nice one bro
MashAllah great work by our scientists.
Pakistan Zindabad.
CONGRATULATIONS . MASHALLAH