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Pakistan Test-Fires Enhanced Ballistic Cruise Missile
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Pakistan Test-Fires Enhanced Ballistic Cruise Missile


Pakistani military personnel stand beside a Shaheen III surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a military parade on March 23, 2017.
Pakistani military personnel stand beside a Shaheen III surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a military parade on March 23, 2017.

Pakistan's military says it has conducted a successful test of an enhanced version of the locally developed Babur ballistic cruise missile.

In a statement on April 14, the military said the Babur Weapon System-1 "can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy, at a range of 700 kilometers."

"It is a low flying, terrain-hugging missile, which also carries certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads," the statement added.

Last year, the Pakistani military said it had test-fired its first submarine-launched cruise missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and giving the country a credible second strike capability.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan said the Babur Cruise-3 missile has a range of 450 kilometers and can fly low to evade radar and air defenses.

Pakistan and its neighbor and archrival India have been developing missiles of varying ranges since they conducted nuclear tests in May 1998.

They have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

Based on reporting by AP and Dawn
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