Pakistan Conducts First Flight Test Of Ababeel Surface-To-Surface Missile
MEP: Pakistan on Tuesday conducted a successful test flight of the Ababeel surface-to-surface missile (SSM), the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Army’s public relations wing.
Ababeel has a maximum range of 2,200 kilometers and is capable of delivering multiple warheads using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology, an ISPR press release said.
“The test flight was aimed at validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system,” it said.
Ababeel is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating hostile radars, the ISPR claimed.
#ABABEEL. CJCSC Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, CAS ACM Sohail Aman and CNS Adm Muhammad Zaka Ullah Congratulate team and Pakistan Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/Bdz1LQxpJh
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) January 24, 2017
“The development of the Ababeel Weapon System was aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan’s ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment,” read the press release.
Tuesday’s test came close on the heels of a test of the submarine-launched Babur-III cruise missile. After that test, the military said the country had attained “second strike capability” as part of a strategy for a “measured response to nuclear strategies and postures being adopted in Pakistan’s neighborhood”.
