Ababeel Missile (
Urdu
Urdu (;["Urdu"](_blank)
'' surface-to-surface
A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed ins ...
medium-range ballistic missile developed by Pakistan. It is "aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan's ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment", in response to the
Indian anti-ballistic missile systems.
The missile has length of 21.5 meters and a diameter of 1.7 meters and is designed to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, according to Pakistani sources it has
multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), over a maximum range of . As such, it would be Pakistan's first missile with this capability. It can carry total 1,500 kg ( 3,307 lb) warhead , which consists of three standard warheads of 500 kg ( 1102.3 lb) each or 5 of 300 kg ( 661.4 lb) or 8 maximum Warheads weighing 185 kg (408 lb) .
Ababeel is developed by KRL, which have previously developed liquid powered Ghauri missile system. From this it can be expected that Ababeel is also a liquid fueled missile. However, some sources suggest that Ababeel is said to be a development of the
Shaheen-III
The Shaheen-III (Urdu: ; lit. ''White Falcon-III'') is a Pakistani land-based surface-to-surface medium range ballistic missile, which was test fired for the first time by military service on 9 March 2015.
Development began in secrecy in the ea ...
airframe and solid-fuel motors, but with a
payload fairing of enlarged diameter to accept the MIRV warhead.
The second stage is also lengthened.
If it's really the development of Shaheen-3 missile then the warhead carrying capacity is increased but the range is decreased from 2,750 km ( 1,709 mi ) to 2,200 km ( 1,400 mi).
The first publicly announced test launch was conducted on 24 January 2017.
As of June 2017 no missiles were thought to be operationally deployed.
See also
*
List of missiles of Pakistan
A list of missiles used by Pakistan.
Surface-to-surface missiles
Rocket Artillery
* KRL Ghazab — (40 km)
* A-100E — (120 km) — ''(China)''
* Fateh-1 — (150 km)
Anti-tank Guided Missiles (ATGM)
*BGM-71 TOW — (3.75& ...
*
MIRV
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with i ...
*
Shaheen-III
The Shaheen-III (Urdu: ; lit. ''White Falcon-III'') is a Pakistani land-based surface-to-surface medium range ballistic missile, which was test fired for the first time by military service on 9 March 2015.
Development began in secrecy in the ea ...
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
MIRV capable missiles
Medium-range ballistic missiles of Pakistan
Military equipment introduced in the 2010s