Pakistan Now Plans to Test Two Ghauri-III Missiles
May 28, 2004 :: News
Coming one week after reports that Pakistan would test launch a Ghauri-III missile in early June, the Pakistani newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt now claims that the country will now conduct two tests of the missile, on May 29 and on June 3. The Ghauri III, said to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads 3,500km, is Pakistan’s longest-range missile. “After the successful test-fire of Ghauri III missile, Pakistan will join the ranks of other countries that can manufacture intermediate range missiles,” the paper boasted.
Update: May 29: Pakistan Tests Hatf-5, with range of 1,500 km. (More »»»)
» May 21, 2004: Pakistan to test Ghauri III in early June
» More stories on: Pakistan, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Ghauri-3, Hatf 5
Pakistan to Test Ghauri III Missile in Early June
May 21, 2004 :: News
Pakistan is preparing to test a 3,500km range ballistic missile, referred to as the Ghauri-III, in the first week of June, possibly on June 3. This would be the first flight test of the liquid-fueled Ghauri III, and the longest-range missile of Pakistan’s to date, surpassing the range of the Shaheen II. A successful motor test for the missile has already taken place, reports the Pakistani newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt, probably in September 1999.
The missile will be fired from the testing range near the northwest province of Nowshera, and will travel southward, into the Arabian Sea. The Ghauri missile system was initially developed by Abdul Qadeer Khan. In March, Pakistan tested its Shaheen II missile, with a reported range of 2,000 to 3,000km.
Several news reports describe the Ghauri III missile as “long range,” but a missile with a range of 3,500km would be classified as an intermediate range ballistic missile, or IRBM.
Update: May 24: Pakistan could launch missile within 48 hours (Article, Link)
» March 9, 2004: Pakistan tests Shaheen II
» Nawa-i-Waqt report on Pakistan test (subscription)
» More stories on: Pakistan, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Ghauri-3
Messing and Keller: China’s Ulterior Motives for Covert Proliferation
May 18, 2004 :: Washington Times :: Analysis
F. Andy Messing Jr. and James A. Kellar of the National Defense Council Foundation write in today’s Washington Times of the palpable technological transfers from China to Pakistan, North Korea, and elsewhere, of which the most important are their joint nuclear and ballistic missile efforts. In doing so, they reinforce a point often made here about the real sources of proliferation: that upstart rogue state WMD and missile programs are not operating in a vacuum, but rather have received considerable support from Russia and China.
Pakistan, Iran and North Korea are all pursuing WMD capability. However, to address these countries alone is inadequate. It is akin to fighting a war on drugs by only pursuing the street corner dealer and neglecting Colombia.
(More »»»)
» More stories on: China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Proliferation
Kahn Claims to Have Seen North Korean Nuclear Weapons
April 12, 2004 :: New York Times :: News
Abdul Kahn, widely known as the “father of the Pakistani Bomb” who spearheaded that country’s nuclear program and the proliferation of nuclear technology around the world, has now claimed to have seen and inspected three nuclear devices during a visit to North Korea to aid in their nuclear program, according to the New York Times. The report would be the first such verification by a foreigner of North Korea’s long touted possession of such weapons.
The story has the potential to support the exoneration of Pakistan as a sort of willing partner in the war on nuclear and missile proliferation. Khan and Pakistan, like Qaddafi and Libya, might seem to have fully repented and become an reliable informant or ally for the United States. But that which led to Pakistan-Korth Korea nuclear cooperation and which would prompt North Korea to trust Kahn with an inspection in the first place should be the ground for continued suspicion of both now.
Although Kahn may well have ulterior motives to bolster North Korea’s nuclear threat to the West, that North Korea already has had for some time some nuclear weapons is quite plausible. That it would, however, should serve as a reminder of the failure of the 1994 Accord with North Korea negotiated by the Clinton administration—as well as our previous ill-placed trust in the Pakistani government, which despite its fervent denials almost certainly had to be apartied to such high level transfers of technology. The lesson of the failed policy of appeasement with both these countries should perhaps inform the current negotiations as well. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Proliferation
Israeli-Developed Phalcon Claimed Able to “Neutralize” Pakistani Missile
March 18, 2004 :: News
Israel’s Phalcon system, previously sold to India, is capable of “neutralizing” Pakistan’s Shaheen II ballisic missile, according to a news report, which came just after Pakistan’s test of the Shaheen II on March 16.
It is unclear in what sense the early warning/spy plane can neutralize the Pakistani missile, unless it is meant that it would be used in concjunction with a missile defense system.
India is also considering purchasing the U.S. Patriot, the Russian S-300, and the Israeli Arrow missile defense systems. (Article, Link)
» FAS description of Phalcon system
» Mar. 4, 2004: Israel-India Phalcon deal
» Mar. 1: Pakistan complains of Phalcon
» More stories on: India, Israel, Pakistan
China and Pakistan Surpassing North Korea as Chief Missile Proliferators to Mideast
March 17, 2004 :: East Asia Intel :: News
When it comes to missile proliferation, its no easy to task to better North Korea. But China and its ally, Pakistan, seem intent on doing so.
As North Korea’s proliferation has slowed due to international pressure, the mideast missile market, countries such as Iran and Syria, are seeking out other standbys, reports East-Asia-Intel.com. North Korea has been said to have sold $580 million worth of missiles to the mideast in 2001. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, North Korea, Pakistan, Proliferation
Pakistan’s Hatf III Missile Ready for Service
March 11, 2004
The March 2004 edition of Janes Missiles and Rockets reports that Pakistan’s Hatf III, or Ghaznavi, missile is ready for service. The Hatf III is based on the Chinese M-11 (CSS-7). (Link)
» Mar. 9: Pakistan tests Hatf-6 (Shaheen II)
» More stories on: Pakistan, Proliferation
» Missile details: Hatf 3
Pakistan Tests Nuclear Capable Shaheen II
March 9, 2004 :: Pak Tribune :: News
Pakistan today tested a Shaheen II (Hatf-6), nuclear capable missile with a reported range of between 2,000 and 3,000km. The missile is capable of reaching all of India’s major cities, and reportedly has multiple warheads. (Article, Link)
» U.S. asks Pakistan to reduce missile tests
» Pakistan to conduct more missile tests
» More stories on: Pakistan, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Hatf 6
China Resisted Inquiry Into Their Aid of Pakistan’s Nuclear Program
March 5, 2004 :: National Security Archive :: News
The National Security Archive project at George Washington University has documented a number of previously classified documents which indicate that China was permitted to rebuff inquiries by the United States, over the course of three presidencies, into the nature of the Chinese assistance of Pakistan with their nuclear program.
The documents illustrating China’s refusal only confirm, however, what has been obvious for some time, that China aided Pakistan with their nuclear program in order to permit Pakistan to counterbalance India, which borders China and is their geopolitical rival. At another level, however, they serve as a reminder that the real roots of proliferation stem not from individuals working alone, such as A. Q. Kahn, but from regimes themselves—and not primarily “rogue states” but most especially from the major rivals and threats to America, Russia and China. The major threats, in other words, are not so “asymmetrical,” but rather “strategic.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan
Asst. Sec. of State: Pakistan BMD May Promote Regional Stability
February 21, 2004 :: Pak Tribune :: News
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker has said that Pakistani missile defense may, “in certain circumstances…contribute to regional stability.” Rademaker added that the “United States was ready to discuss the issue with Pakistan.”
In one sense, the truth of this statement is obvious. Missile defenses, properly balanced and carefully managed, could be a means by which to ease the nuclear missile standoff between Pakistan and India. All the difficulty would lie, of course, in the transfer from a sort of policy of mutually assured destruction to one of mutually assured defense: where defensive systems overcome offensive ones. In another sense, limited missile defenses may be used to level the current offensive strategic balance between the two rival countries. In general, however, the United States would probably do well to promote missile defenses the world over. All that can be done to undermine and destroy the perceived intrinsic superiority of offensive nuclear weapons to defensive ones is likely to be efforts well directed. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Pakistan
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