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| A Pakistani Ballistic Missile Launch (File Photo) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
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, AFP reported.
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.
Read the full story at The Diplomat