Article Posted on : - Mar 11, 2011

Pakistan successfully test fired its short range Surface to Surface (STS) Ballistic Missile Hataf-2 (Abdali) on Friday. Photo: ISPR.

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan Friday successfully test-fired the short-range surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Hataf-II or Abdali missile, the military said.

The test of the missile, which has a range of 180 km, was carried out as part of a process of validating and improving its land-based ballistic missile systems, an official statement said.

The missile can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with "high accuracy", it said.

"The missile test was conducted as part of the process of validation and technical improvements in the land-based ballistic missile systems of the country," said the statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations.

The test, conducted at an undisclosed location, was witnessed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Shamim Hyder Wynne, Strategic Plans Division chief Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Army Strategic Force Commander Lt Gen Jamil Haider, senior officers from the armed forces and scientists and engineers of strategic organisations.

Speaking on the occasion, Wynne said the test "will go a long way in consolidating Pakistan's strategic deterrence capability and further strengthening national security".

In the hierarchy of military operations, the Abdali missile system provides Pakistan an "operational level capability" that is in addition to the strategic capability the country already possesses through its medium-range and long-range ballistic missiles, he said.

"Pakistan's resolve and commitment to continue its strategic progress will remain paramount," Wynne said.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani felicitated defence scientists and engineers on the success of the test.