Pak. claims Shaheen inducted into army

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JAN. 26. Pakistan has claimed that the medium range Shaheen-I and the intermediate range Shaheen-II ballistic missiles were not only in ``regular production'' but have already been inducted into the army.

While the Shaheen-I is supposed to be an answer to India's Prithvi, Shaheen-II is claimed to be a match to Agni-II, which India test-fired for the second time last week.

The first reaction of the military establishment to the test of Agni-II was that it posed a direct threat to Pakistan's security.

However, within 24 hours, the Pakistani Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said more than Pakistan, it was for countries like China to be worried. His logic was that most of Pakistan was within the range of missiles like the Prithvi.

Quoting official sources, the Pakistani English daily, The News, reported that all missile systems were in regular or serial production.

As Pakistan has not even test-fired Shaheen-II, the claim of the official, as reported by the paper, sounds incredible.

The assertion of the unnamed official could at the best be seen as a reminder to India, and the rest of the world, about Pakistan's missile capability. Perhaps through the report, Pakistan is seeking to convey the message that it is on par with India in missile technology and capability.

``All missiles are in regular or serial production. The world would be at fault in underestimating the talent of the Pakistan, particularly its scientists'', the paper quoted the official as saying.

In response to a question on whether Pakistan was preparing to give a matching response to the January 17 Agni-II test-fire, the official told the paper that ``Pakistan will conduct the test at an appropriate time and would not be dictated by tests conducted from across the border''.

The official claimed that Agni missile had an ``extremely unstable'' flight because of its length and pencil- thin design. In contrast, the paper quoted him as saying that Pakistan's Shaheen missiles were highly stable.

It said use of state-of-the-art technology has put the Pakistan missile programme far ahead of that of India. ``Shaheen-I and Shaheen-II and other missiles are a class of their own, and all are solid fuel-based, terminal guided which can hit the pin-head as was witnessed during the Shaheen-I test-fire'', the official told the paper.

It quoted the official as saying that Pakistan missile programme is more than a decade old and the ground testing facilities are advanced with simulation facility. It is no longer necessary to resort to multiple flight tests to confirm the performance of the missiles and that cold tests were sufficient.

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Section  : International
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