Update on the cruise missle launches published in the nation
MAJ. GEN. (RETD) JAMSHED AYAZ KHAN
Pakistan carried out its second Test Firing of its Cruise Missile on 21 March 2006 amidst celebrations. The people do keep on asking about this missile, the reason why it was fired and why is it so important for Pakistan.
Missiles are very different from guns and rockets as Missiles are properly guided to the target through very technical guidance system, while guns and rockets are free flight and once they are fired there is no way to correct their movement during flight. It all depends upon the initial data that you have fed into the gun or rocket. That is why their accuracy is not pinpoint and they are called Area Weapons. Pakistan and India have been developing their missiles under a systematic programme and therefore there has been test fire regularly. Pakistan has been experimenting with Ballistic Missiles of different ranges and has been quite successful in these tests.
The various Ballistic Missiles that Pakistan has developed and test fired can be equipped with normal conventional war-heads or nuclear war-heads and ranges they achieve depend on the thrust that is given to them at the time of firing.
It is certainly a matter of pride that Pakistan has been able to develop its own missile system and is quite advance in this field among the region and in the developing world. But these Ballistic Missiles can be located by the “enemy” and if the “enemy” can locate a missile in time and the “enemy” has the capability, he can destroy it in the air through the use of Anti Ballistic Missiles before they land at the designated target and destroy it.
Pakistan’s defence experts and scientific community have now come up with an answer to this, by developing a Cruise Missile called Babar. This type of missile is what one would call Intelligent missile. It clings to the ground to avoid detection by the enemy’s radars and satellites. Obviously when the “enemy” is unable to detect these missiles, it can not take any counter measures against them.
Cruise Missile Babar was tested at the range of 500 kilometers and proved its accuracy as a point target through the use of its sophisticated guidance system wherein that data of the target was fed into the guidance system of the missile and through out its flights, command signals were sent to the missile continuously to keep it on track and guide it to the designated target. Lately, India has been toying with the idea of acquiring the anti ballistic missiles system from the United States to counter the Ballistic Missile capabilities of its “enemies”. This " Anti Ballistic Missile System" is also called Ballistic Missile Shield which is a misnomer as this is not a shield but a system where on coming missiles are identified, tracked and destroyed by the anti ballistic missile weapon system which includes detection and tracking of the incoming missile before its ultimate destruction. This system has not proved to be that effective and does not have hundred percent reliability. It cannot destroy all incoming missile fired by the “enemy”. Fifty to seventy percent hit probability is taken as satisfactory, this means out of hundred missiles fired, then up to seventy would be destroyed but thirty would still be able to penetrate through. In order to defend each vulnerable area (VA) like, Delhi, Bombay and Chennai etc India would have to deploy many batteries to defend these VAs against Ballistic Missiles, yet some of the Ballistic Missiles will be able to get through.
Pakistan’s development of Cruise Missile system is a real feather in the cap of Pakistani scientists and defence experts and Anti Ballistic Missile System (ballistic missile system) that Indians are trying to acquire from United States would become redundant as they would not be able to detect the Cruise Missiles through the use of their radar and satellite system. The world at large and Indians in particular were not expecting Pakistan to develop this sophisticated missile and that is why during the Indo-Pak talks on giving prior information about testing of missiles India did not include the Cruise Missile, even though India has developed Cruise Missile called “Ramos” with the help of Russians. This shows India did not expect Pakistan to develop Cruise Missile. In the next round of talks, India will possibly ask for the inclusion of cruise missiles in this agreement.
The cruise missile “Babar” fired by Pakistan on 21 March 2006 is the army and air force version. If a seaborne cruise missile system is developed, it will have far reaching effects on Pakistan’s minimum credible defence deterrence capabilities. If mounted on the “state of art” submarines that Pakistan possess, then these submarines could be hidden anywhere around India and no Indian city would remain safe.
It would be certainly appropriate to appreciate the efforts of scientific community (old and new) and defence establishment who have made the Pakistani nation proud. Hats off to all who played a role in this project. Special mention must be made of the authorities in National Command Authority (NCA) and Strategic Planning Division (SDP) for motivating various scientific organisations in such a way that they now complement each other rather than being jealous of each other’s achievements.