Pakistan conducted its first nuclear-capable missile test on Monday, launching a Babur-3 cruise missile from a submarine in the Indian Ocean.
The Pakistan Armed Forces say the Babur-3 misssile is able to deliver a wide range of payloads and would allow Islamabad to counter a potential nuclear attack against Pakistan.
“Pakistan conducted its first successful test fire of Submarine Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) Babur-3 having a range of 450 kilometers [some 280 miles], from an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean.
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The missile was fired from an underwater, mobile platform and hit its target with precise accuracy,” a statement by the Armed Forces says.
India Times reports:
The missile, Babur-3, was fired from an underwater, mobile platform and hit its target with precise accuracy, the Inter Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistani military said in a statement.
Babur-3, which has a range of 450km, is a sea-based variant of Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) Babur-2 , which was successfully tested earlier in December, last year.
The Babur-3 SLCM incorporates state-of-the-art technologies including underwater controlled propulsion and advanced guidance and navigation features, duly augmented by Global Navigation, Terrain and Scene Matching Systems.
The missile features terrain hugging and sea skimming flight capabilities to evade hostile radars and air defenses, in addition to certain stealth technologies, in an emerging regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment, the release said.
Babur-3 SLCM in land-attack mode, is capable of delivering various types of payloads and will provide Pakistan with a “credible second-strike capability, augmenting deterrence ,” the statement said.
While the pursuit and now the successful attainment of a second strike capability by Pakistan represents a major scientific milestone, it is manifestation of the strategy of measured response to nuclear strategies and postures being adopted in Pakistan’s neighbourhood, it said, in an obvious reference to India.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has congratulated the nation and the military on the first successful test-fire of the SLCM, his office said in a statement.
“The successful test of Babur-3 is a manifestation of Pakistan’s technological progress and self-reliance,” according to the statement.
Sharif further said that Pakistan always maintains policy of peaceful co-existence but this test is a step towards reinforcing policy of credible minimum deterrence.
