Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
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 ...
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 ...
. The ''Shaheen-II'' is designed and developed by the
NESCOM
The National Engineering & Scientific Commission (NESCOM) ( ur, ) is a Pakistani missile manufacturer and civilian research organization of Pakistan, under the administrative control of the Strategic Plans Division of Pakistan's National Command ...
and the National Defence Complex (NDC) of Pakistan. The Shaheen missile series is named after a falcon that lives in the mountains of Pakistan.
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
National Air and Space Intelligence Center
The National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) is the United States Air Force unit for analyzing military intelligence on foreign air and space forces, weapons, and systems. NASIC assessments of aerospace performance characteristics, ca ...
estimates that as of June 2017 fewer than 50 launchers were operationally deployed.
Description
The Shaheen-II is a longer ranged variant of the
Shaheen-I
The Shaheen-I ( ur, شاہين-ا; official codename: Hatf–IV Shaheen), is a Pakistani land-based supersonic and short-to-medium range surface-to-surface guided ballistic missile jointly designed and developed by the joint venture of NESCOM an ...
missile. It was the most advanced ballistic missile in service until shaheen III with the
Pakistan Armed Forces
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 ...
. It uses a two-stage
solid-fuel rocket
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants ( fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persian ...
motor designed to carry conventional or nuclear payloads. It is transported and launched by a 6-axle transporter erector launcher (TEL). According to U.S. based analysts, a satellite image of a Pakistani missile production facility taken on 5 June 2005 shows fifteen 6-axle TELs being fitted out for the Shaheen 2 missile.
It is a two-stage rocket with diameter of 1.4 m, length of 17.5 m, weight of 25 tons and a range of 2,000 km. Shaheen-II was successfully test fired for the first time on 9 March 2004 and again on 13 November 2014.
Re-entry vehicle
The re-entry vehicle carried by the Shaheen-II missile has a mass of 700–1250 kg, which includes the mass of a nuclear warhead and a terminal guidance system.
This re-entry vehicle is unlike that of the Shaheen I in that it has four moving delta control fins at the rear and small solid/liquid-propellant side thrust motors, which are used to orient the re-entry vehicle after the booster stage is depleted or before re-entry to improve accuracy by providing stabilization during the terminal phase. This can also be used to fly evasive manoeuvres, making it problematic for existing anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems to successfully intercept the missile. The Shaheen II warhead may change its trajectory several times during re-entry and during the terminal phase, effectively preventing ABM radar systems from pre-calculating intercept points. The re-entry vehicle is also stated to utilise a
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
satellite guidance system to provide updates on its position, further improving its accuracy and reducing the CEP.
Foreign sources claim the missile to have an accuracy of 350 m CEP based on speculation that the design is the same or similar to one of several Chinese systems such as the
DF-11
The Dong-Feng 11 (a.k.a. M-11, CSS-7) is a short-range ballistic missile developed by the People's Republic of China.
History
The DF-11 is a road-mobile short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) which began development in 1984 as the M-11, of whi ...
or
DF-25
DF-25 (Dong Feng-25) was a Chinese two-stage, solid-propellant, road-mobile Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). Missilethreat.com stated it could deliver a single or multiple conventional warheads weighing over a maximum distance of 3, ...
.Duncan Lennox; ''Hatf 6 (Shaheen 2), Jane’s Strategic Weapon Systems''; June 15, 2004. However, according to a press video shown by NDC at the IDEAS 2004 defence exhibition in Pakistan, the missile can achieve "surgical precision". This has led to speculation that Shaheen II incorporates a satellite navigation update system and/or a post separation attitude correction system to provide terminal course correction, which "may indicate a CEP of much less than 300 m." According to Harsh Pant, reader of international relations at the Defence Studies Department of
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, "the current capability of Pakistani missiles is built around radar seekers."
Shaheen-I
The Shaheen-I ( ur, شاہين-ا; official codename: Hatf–IV Shaheen), is a Pakistani land-based supersonic and short-to-medium range surface-to-surface guided ballistic missile jointly designed and developed by the joint venture of NESCOM an ...
*
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 ear ...
;Related lists
*
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& ...