IRNA -- Pakistan on Wednesday successfully conducted the launch of intermediate range ballistic nuclear capable missile, the military said
Pakistan conducted the test just days after India test fired its first Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), Agni-V.
“Pakistan today successfully conducted the launch of intermediate range ballistic missile Hatf-4 Shaheen-1A weapons system,” an army statement said.
“The missile is an improved version of Shaheen-1 with improvements in range and technical parameters,’ the statement said.
The army said the missile is capable of ‘carrying nuclear and conventional warheads’,” statement from the army’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Senior military and officials involved in the country’s missile system witnessed the missile test.
The statement did not mention the place where the test was conducted.
The ISPR said that the missile hit the target in sea.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani congratulated the scientists and the military on the successful launch of the missile system.
The nuclear-capable Shaheen-1 missile has originally a range of 700 kilometers (420 miles), according to the army’s previous statements.
Pakistan routinely tests the various missiles in its arsenal, designed to match that of neighboring archrival India.
Pakistan conducted the test few days after India said it successfully test fired its first Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), Agni-V. India says it has joined the elite club of ICBM nations.
Agni-V, the ICBM test fired by India last week, is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The missile can carry a pay-load of 1 tonne, is 17 m long, 2 m wide and weighs 50 tonnes.
Only the permanent members of the UN Security Council - China, Russia, France, the United States and the United Kingdom - have such long distance missiles.
The missile has a range of 5,000 kilometres, a marked improvement over India's current missiles which can hit potential enemy targets over a distance of just 3,500 kilometres.
