India, Pakistan Missile Race Continues Unabated

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — Amid signals of a slight thaw in relations, India and Pakistan are nevertheless engaged in furious testing of ballistic missiles. Indian scientists successfully test-fired the 214 mm caliber rocket Pinaka from its launch pad in Chandipur on the eastern coast. It is the second developmental test of the rocket in a fortnight, which is guided by a combination of an inertial navigation system aided by GPS. Guided Pinaka will gradually replace SMERCH which, according to its Russian meaning ‘whirlwind’, can flatten an area of 1.1 sq km.

Scientific Adviser to India’s Defense Minister G Sathees Reddy said that success of guided Pinaka has shown the capability of India in converting unguided systems into precision weapons.

Guided Pinaka is an advanced version of the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system wherein the firing range has been enhanced to 65+ km from the existing 38 km. Sources says that guided Pinaka will have multiplier effect in battlefield as each individual rocket is guided separately whereas commander can change its position and path in every 20 microseconds.

On the other hand, Pakistan conducted its first successful flight test of Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile Ababeel, which has a maximum range of 2200 kilometers. The missile is capable of delivering multiple warheads, using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

“Ababeel is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating the enemy’s hostile radars. Development of Ababeel Weapon System is aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan’s ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment,” read a statement released by the Pakistan Army.

On January 9, Pakistan had successfully tested the sea-launched nuclear capable cruise missile Babur 3. Both countries have been engaged in testing their missiles after an unprecedented level of small arms firing at the border last year. Earlier this month, the Indian Army chief announced the revival of Cold Start doctrine, conceptualized to attack rivals within 48 hours. This entails a pile-up of arms and ammunition of billions of dollars from Russia and Israel. In response, Pakistan has “threatened to use nuclear weapons should India invade.”

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