The Ghauri-II (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' 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 guided

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

designed and developed by the

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...

. It is a single-stage

liquid fuel Liquid fuels are combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container. It is the fumes of liquid fuels that are flammable ...

missile system and a longer ranged variant of the

Ghauri-I The Ghauri–I ( ur, غوری-ا; official codename: Hatf–V Ghauri–I) is a land-based surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missile, in current service with the Pakistan Army's Strategic Forces Command— a subordinate command of Strat ...

. The development of ''Ghauri-II'' took place in a direct response to India's

Agni II Agni-II (IAST: Agni, ), is the second strategic ballistic missile of Agni (missile) family envisaged to be the mainstay of the Indian missile-based strategic nuclear deterrence. The Agni-II is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with two so ...

. It was developed by increasing the length of the motor assembly and using improved propellants.Pakistan’s Long Range Ballistic Missiles: A View From IDEAS
The Ghauri–II enjoyed distinction of being Pakistan's longest range missile until its limit was exceeded by the successful launch of the

Shaheen-II The Shaheen-II (Urdu:شاهين–اا; codename: Hatf–VI Shaheen) is a Pakistani land-based supersonic surface-to-surface medium-range guided ballistic missile. The ''Shaheen-II'' is designed and developed by the NESCOM and the National ...

which was tested in 2004.

Design

The Ghauri-II missile has a maximum range of . It is 18.0 m in length, has a diameter of 1.35 m and a launch weight of 17,800 kg. Its payload is a single separating warhead weighing 1,200 kg, or as low as 750 kg for use at its maximum range. This may used to carry a 250 kg warhead of a 15 to 30 kt yield nuclear, HE or sub-munition warhead. The missile uses a single-stage liquid propellant rocket motor. The Ghauri-II design improves accuracy by an employing mechanisms that spin the single booster stage and warhead combination approximately 10 seconds before the termination of the powered flight phase at 110 seconds. At this point, the warhead is then separated from the booster stage to fly on a re-entry trajectory that remains stable to its target, greatly enhancing the missile's accuracy. With the addition of GPS targeting the warhead accuracy is further enhanced. Like most Pakistani missile systems,

transporter erector launcher A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to- ...

(TEL) vehicles are used to transport and launch Ghauri II.

Developments and tests

The development of ''Ghauri-II'' took place in 1993 at the

(KRL) after the government issued orders and released funds for it. After heavy reengineering and subsequent reverse engineering led the improvements of ''Ghauri-II'', and synergizing expertise from various strategic organizations allowed the Ghauri project to continue into Ghauri II and III missiles, whose ranges were intended to reach more deeply into India. Unlike

, the development on the second variant was kept extremely secretive and very few officials, including its

chief designer The engineering design process is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative - parts of the process often need to be repeated many times before another can be entere ...

, knew about the existence of the program. The Ghauri-II was launched in a direct response to India's development on

Agni-II Agni-II (IAST: Agni, ), is the second strategic ballistic missile of Agni (missile) family envisaged to be the mainstay of the Indian missile-based strategic nuclear deterrence. The Agni-II is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with two so ...

and the project took place at the KRL. The development on Ghauri-II remains extremely secretive and very few details were made to public in 1999. On 11 April 1999, India announced to the hold the tests for the

, prompting Pakistan's reaction. On 14 April 1999, the ''Ghauri-II'' was test fired from a Tilla-Jagun Test Range. Pakistani

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and ...

inccorrectly broadcast the news that it was a re-test of the

; this was contradicted by Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

on 14 April 1999. The ''Ghauri-II'' was launched at 1035hrs local time (0535

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

) and its

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in o ...

hit a target 1150 km away near the coastal town of Jiwani on the

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

coast. The test was described as "successful", and the missile had taken the

more than 620 mi (997.93 km) in 12 minutes after being fired from a site in the central province of Punjab. The ''Ghauri-II'' enjoyed its distinction of being the longest range missile in service with

Pakistan military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

, until its limit was exceeded by the successful launch of the

in 2004.

References

{{Military of Pakistan Medium-range ballistic missiles of Pakistan Military equipment introduced in the 1990s

Design

Developments and tests

See also

References