&w=3840&q=100)
Pakistan launches two surface-to-surface missiles amid tension with India: How deadly are these weapons?
Pakistan has test-fired two surface-to-surface missiles in the last few days. After the Abdali Weapon System, its military said Monday it carried out a 'training launch' of the Fatah Series ballistic missile with a range of 120 kilometres. The launch comes amid a spike in tensions with India in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack read more
This handout photograph released by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on February 15, 2013, shows a Pakistani short range surface to surface Ballistic Missile Hatf II (Abdali) launched from an undisclosed location. File Photo/AFP
Pakistan has test-fired two surface-to-surface missiles since last week amid an uptick in tensions with India in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. After the Abdali Weapon System, Islamabad said Monday (May 5) that it conducted a 'training launch' of the Fatah Series ballistic missile.
The launch of the missiles is being seen as Pakistan's provocation against India. Tensions have spiked between the two rival neighbours since the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. Both nations have announced tit-for-tat measures, including suspending visas for each other's nationals.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
As tensions escalate, how powerful are these weapons test-fired by Pakistan? We will explain.
Pakistan test launches Fatah missile
Pakistan on Monday carried out the training launch of Fatah Series surface-to-surface missile with a range of 120 kilometres, Dawn reported, citing the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan military's media wing.
'The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile's advanced navigation system and enhanced accuracy,' the statement read.
It said the launch came as part of Pakistan's ongoing military exercise, Indus.
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir congratulated the troops, scientists, and engineers involved in the launch.
'They expressed complete confidence in the operational preparedness and technical proficiency of [the] Pakistan Army to thwart any aggression against the territorial integrity of Pakistan,' the ISPR's statement added.
Pakistan has previously claimed that India is planning a military incursion. Its military has warned of a 'sure and decisive' response to any such escalation.
About Fatah missiles
Last year, Pakistan reportedly tested the Fatah-II rocket system, a guided small-range ballistic missile. It is an advanced variant of the Fatah-I, which has a range of 150 km.
Fatah-II, with a range of 400 km, can hit a target with greater accuracy and precision, as per The Diplomat article. Its circular error probe (CEP) is less than 10 meters. The missile's range enables it to strike mobile targets like S-400 air defence systems.
Reports say Islamabad developed Fatah-II to 'challenge' the Russian-made S-400 'Triumf' air defence system owned by India. Pakistan's missile boasts cutting-edge flight control technology and an advanced pathfinding method.
The rocket is 'equipped with state-of-the-art avionics, sophisticated navigation system, and unique flight trajectory,' as per an official press release by Pakistan.
A Pakistani army soldier stands atop a military vehicle carrying Fatah missile (Guided Multi Launch Rocket System) during the Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2022. File Photo/AFP
Its low production and operational costs give it an edge over short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) with similar ranges that Pakistan possesses.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Usman Haider, pursuing an MPhil in Strategic Studies from the National Defense University, Islamabad, wrote for The Diplomat last year that Fatah-II demonstrates the 'presence of land interdiction tactics in the Pakistan Army's conventional warfighting strategy to delay, disrupt, and destroy Indian IBGs [Integrated Battle Groups] advancing towards Pakistan's border.
With a length of 7.5 m, the rocket can carry a 365 kg warhead. It is also a 'navigation system, unique trajectory, and manoeuvrable features, which make the launcher capable of engaging targets with high precision and defeating any missile defence system', ISPR said earlier, as per Jane's Defence Weekly.
ALSO READ: Why India can't expect 'cooperation' from Pakistan on Pahalgam terror attack
How deadly is the Abdali Weapon System?
Pakistan's Abdali Weapon System is a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometres. It was test-fired on Saturday (May 3).
'The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile's advanced navigation system and enhanced manoeuverability features,' the ISPR said in a press release, as per Dawn.
Analysts in Pakistan told AFP that the missile launch was a warning to India. 'It clearly indicates that we have the resources to counter India. This is not a message only for India but the rest of the world that we are well-prepared,' said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a military analyst.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Speaking to Indian Express, an official in New Delhi called the testing of the ballistic missile a 'reckless act of provocation and a dangerous escalation by Pakistan in its hostile campaign against India.'
Ballistic missiles usually have three stages of flight. According to the American non-profit The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, 'Boost Phase begins at launch and lasts until the rocket engine(s) stops firing and the missile begins unpowered flight. Depending on the missile, boost phase can last three to five minutes. Midcourse Phase begins after the rocket(s) stops firing. The missile continues to ascend toward the highest point in its trajectory, and then begins to descend toward Earth.'
The Terminal Phase – the final phase – is when the warhead has detached and hits the target.
Pakistan's ballistic missile, named after Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler who invaded India on multiple occasions in the 18th century, uses projectile motion to reach its target. The missile can carry conventional and nuclear warheads.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
With inputs from agencies
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The Hindu
30 minutes ago
- The Hindu
March to Gaza: Tunisia activists launch Gaza-bound convoy in 'symbolic act'
Hundreds of people, mainly Tunisians, launched on Monday (June 9, 2025) a land convoy bound for Gaza, seeking to "break the siege" on the Palestinian territory, activists said. Organisers said the nine-bus convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a "symbolic act" by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place on Earth". The "Soumoud" convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, includes doctors and aims to arrive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, "by the end of the week", activist Jawaher Channa told AFP. It is set to pass through Libya and Egypt, although Cairo has yet to provide passage permits, she added. "We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way," said Channa, spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organising the caravan. "Egypt has not yet given us permission to cross its borders, but we will see what happens when we get there," she said. Channa said the convoy was not set to face issues crossing Libya, "whose people have historically supported the Palestinian cause", despite recent deadly clashes in the country that remains divided between two governments. Algerian, Mauretanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before continuing on to Rafah through Egypt. After 21 months of war, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies. On June 1, the Madleen aid boat, boarded by activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan, set sail for Gaza from Italy. But on Monday (June 9, 2025) morning Israel intercepted it, preventing it from reaching the Palestinian territory. The UN has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.
&w=3840&q=100)

First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Iran conducted tests critical for nuclear weapons development, says UN watchdog
Iran has conducted implosion tests that are critical for the development of a nuclear weapon and likely still possesses the technological know-how and means even though the nuclear weapons programme stands formally suspended, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). read more (File) The S-300 missile system is displayed during Iranian defence week, in a street in Tehran on September 24, 2024. Reuters Iran has conducted implosion tests that are critical for the development of a nuclear weapon, according to the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog. The finding has emerged shortly after the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported that Iran has ramped up the production of enriched near-weapons grade uranium in recent months. These developments come at a time when Iran is engaged in talks abouts its nuclear programme with the United States. Even though US President Donald Trump has said described the talks as 'very good', no roadmap or outline of the deal has yet emerged. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD ALSO READ: Trump wants a 'verified nuclear peace agreement' with Iran. But how different it'd be from 2015 deal? The IAEA has also Iran has ramped up its stockpile of near-weapons grade uranium of 60 per cent from that 133.8 kilogrammes in February to 408.6 kilogrammes in May. Why does it matter? The IAEA has found that Iran conducted multiple implosion tests when it openly had a nuclear weapons programme that it started in 1990s and formally shut down in 2003. The implosion tests, which simulate the explosion of a miniature nuclear weapon using conventional explosives and non-nuclear core, are critical for the development of a nuclear weapon and have no civilian applications. Even though the IAEA found such tests to have been conducted before 2003, the fact that whereabouts of components of Iran's nuclear weapons programme, such as equipment, blueprints, or scientific literature about nuclear weapons, from that period are not known, it is suspected that Iran still possesses the materials as well as the know-how. This could allow Iran to 'help with a more sudden, rapid push for a breakthrough to a nuclear weapon in 2025', noted Israeli journalist and analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob in an article for The Jerusalem Post. 'The fact that it carried out various explosive tests also suggests that Iran is further along in other skills needed for developing a nuclear bomb, besides just enriching uranium, than many observers may have thought,' Bob further noted. As per the latest known assessments, Iran can develop a 'crude' nuclear weapon within months once the go-ahead comes from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei as against the previous assessment of 12-18 months. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The IAEA found that implosion tests were conducted at Lavisan-Shian site and the whereabouts of equipment from the site after 2018 are not known.


NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
What Ukraine's 'Creative' Spider's Web Drone Attack Taught NATO
Ukraine's "creativity", including its massive "Spider's web" drone attack deep inside Russia, holds profound lessons for Western militaries, the top NATO commander overseeing battlefield innovation told AFP. "What the Ukrainians did in Russia was a Trojan horse -- and the trojan horse was thousands of years ago," French Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, said in an interview. "Today, we see this kind of tactic being reinvented by technical and industrial creativity." Vandier said the operation showed how crucial innovation and adaptation were for victory, as modern warfare changes at lightning speed. "It was a real coup." "We are entering a dynamic era where armies must rely on both major planning but also adaptive planning," the navy commander said. "We will witness continuous innovation where, week by week, month by month or year by year, we will be able to invent things we hadn't anticipated." 'Must act quickly' Faced with the Russian threat, NATO this week adopted new objectives for its defense capabilities to ensure it will be able to repel Moscow. But Western intelligence agencies have warned that the Kremlin is reconstituting its forces at a pace far outstripping NATO and could be ready to attack the alliance in as little as four years. "Time is truly a crucial parameter. We must act quickly," Vandier said. The admiral, who previously commanded France's flagship Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier, said NATO needed to amass the forces to dissuade any adversary from trying an attack. "When you say 'I'm defending myself', you have the weapons to defend. When you say you deter, you have the weapons to deter," he said. "That's what should prevent war -- making the adversary think: "Tomorrow morning, I won't win." NATO countries under pressure from US President Donald Trump are expected to agree a major increase in their defense spending target at a summit in The Hague this month. That should see a dramatic surge in spending on military hardware. But if cheap Ukrainian drones can inflict billions of dollars in damage on Russian bombers, is it still worth investing in vastly expensive systems? "No-one in the military sphere will tell you that we can do without what we'll call traditional equipment," Vandier said. "However, we are certain we need new equipment to complement it." Officials say that over 70 percent of battlefield casualties in Ukraine are caused by drones. But while drones are indispensable in modern warfare, they are not omnipotent. "Today, you won't cross the Atlantic with a 10-meter-long (33-foot-long) drone. You won't easily locate submarines with such tools," Vandier said. "If they accompany your large platforms, you'll be able to achieve much better results at much lower costs." Integrating new technologies The admiral, who works out of NATO's US base in Norfolk, Virginia, said the major challenge was "integrating new technologies and new combat methods, based on what we've witnessed in Ukraine". NATO and Ukraine have established a centre in Poland designed to help the alliance learn lessons from Russia's invasion of its neighbour. Artificial Intelligence and robotics are also increasingly having an impact and are set to help reshape the battlefield. "All modern armies will have piloted and non-piloted capabilities," Vandier said. "It's much more efficient to deliver ammunition with a ground robot than with a squad of soldiers who could face a 155-millimeter (six-inch) shell." This transformation of military capabilities within the alliance, which NATO aims to expand by at least 30 percent over coming years, will come at a significant cost, estimated in hundreds of billions of euros (dollars). Vandier insisted that while the financial effort was "substantial" it was "fully realistic". "Today, we have all the tools. We have the engineering. We have the expertise. We have the technology. So, we need to get started," he said.