Pakistan Test-fires Indigenous Cruise Missile

Pakistan Navy test-fired a domestically developed unindented cruise missile in the north Arabian sea on Tuesday.

"The indigenously developed cruise missile has anti-ship missile and land attack capability," Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces, said in a statement Tuesday.

Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Kaleem Shaukat witnessed the live firing, which was conducted by the navy's fast attack craft.

Admiral Shaukat reaffirmed the navy's resolve "to ensure seaward defence and safeguard national maritime interests at all costs."

ISPR has not revealed any more details about the missile that was test-fired. The fast attack craft used for anti-ship land attack cruise missile testing was also not specified.

The country has been developing an anti-ship missile based on Babur 1B (also designated as Hatf VII), which was last test fired in April 2018.

Since 2016, Pakistan has test-fired a number of new long-range anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM), most notably the Zarb coastal/land-based ASCM, Harba dual-ASCM and land-attack cruise missile (LACM), and the Babur 1B and Babur Version 2 dual ASCM/LACM.

Babur Weapon System-1 (B) incorporates advanced aerodynamics and avionics that can strike targets both at land and sea with a high degree of accuracy and has a range of 700 kilometres. It is a low-flying, terrain-hugging missile, which also has certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads.