01/10/2017, 09.43
PAKISTAN
Send to a friend

Pakistan launches first cruise missile from a submarine

The launch took place in an unspecified area of ​​the Indian Ocean. The Babur missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The test could further disrupt the delicate balance with Delhi, with Islamabad leading the race in nuclear technology.

 

Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Pakistan "successfully" conducted the first launch of a cruise missile from a submarine, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The test took place yesterday in an unspecified location in the Indian Ocean.

Military sources said that the launch grants the country a "credible second strike capability" and is part of "deterrence policy" strategy. But experts point out that the test could ratchet up tensions with India, with which Islamabad has engaged in a nuclear arms race since the 1990s to reaffirm regional supremacy.

The Babur-3 missile was launched from a submarine and has a range of 450 km. It is a variant of the Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) Babur-2, already successfully tested in December. The military declared that hit a target with pinpoint accuracy and confirm that could carry nuclear weapons.

Pakistan and India - hostile since the division in 1947 - conducted the first nuclear test in 1998 and later launched into a continuous race for nuclear armaments and technology.

According to some experts, the last test could further upset the delicate balance in the region, already undermined in July with the killing by Delhi of a famous separatist in Kashmir and the subsequent attack on an Indian army base, which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers.

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Kim Jong-un: Close to the final testing of intercontinental ballistic missile
02/01/2017 13:11
Space arms race begins
19/01/2007
After the "China Killer", New Delhi launches another nuclear missile
13/07/2012
Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang rise as Cold War fears cast a shadow over Korea
12/02/2016 15:14
Tokyo announces Pyongyang missile launch, then retracts mistake
04/04/2009


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”